Protected
by yuugiri
Summary: Her mission was to stay alive. His orders were to help her stay alive. A relationship built on trust, and the lack of it. SaiSaku.  Slightly AUish
1. Running from the Sixth

_**Chapter One**_

_**Running from the Sixth**_

* * *

The one single constant thing in the span of the indefinite hours in that dark prison cell, was the pain. The _excruciating_ pain. It came from everywhere; her arms, her knuckles, her knees, her head. Oh, her head! It felt like it was going to explode when she tried to open her eyes.

Haruno Sakura gritted her teeth together, willing herself not to lose consciousness again. This was not the time to be weak. The people of Konoha were required to be strong, especially in these times when the village needed them the most.

When the _Hokage _herself needed them, most of all.

She forced her arms to move, but for some unknown reason, they would not follow her bidding. She moved her head slowly, saw the dirty walls of her cell, the disgusting moss growing right where her cheek was pressed against the rocks. She forced herself to examine the extent of the damage those Root scum did to her body.

And she nearly cried out with what she saw in the dim light of that one single torch positioned above her head. She knew instantly why she could not move her arms; they were broken beyond recognition in several places, judging by the way they hung mangled at her sides. Her blood-covered knuckles, she knew by the looks of it, were shattered. It was a wonder she still had her fingers intact. Her eyes traveled to her legs stretched out in front of her. Her right knee was oozing blood from the side where a wound she suspected to be from a kunai lay open. Other than that, she did not know. She felt consciousness slipping again. She fought it desperately by remembering the events of today. The task only made things worse.

The memory of Tsunade in her most vulnerable state, Shimura Danzo raised Sixth Hokage, and Uzumaki Naruto gone missing not too long after. The events felt like centuries ago, although it had been but a few hours that Sakura had been more than willing to offer her life to get the Root underlings away from her _Shishou_. Perhaps it was because of the fatigue from running around the village for three days without sleep to heal the wounded after Pain's invasion. While Pain – because of Naruto – had revived every single person he had killed in the attack, Sakura didn't think he would go to the extent of healing the _dying_ and the _wounded_. It had been frustrating to watch people die _after _the invasion simply because there wasn't enough medicine for their disposal, or not enough hands to help around the hospital, or not enough blood donors. And to think Sakura had thought it was finally over.

It had been frustrating to watch a child die from a bash on the head, when every single stabbed, cut and slashed ninja had started popping back to life.

It had been frustrating to have the Sixth Hokage prioritize pointing fingers than healing the wounded. It had been even more frustrating to have the new Sixth Hokage accuse Tsunade – who had just offered half of her already short lifespan to save the people of the Leaf – of Reckless Endangerment.

_Reckless Endangerment!_

Danzo had tried to assault Tsunade in her quarters in her weakest state, and her _Shishou _had commanded her to back down. But Sakura would rather have died than have their grubby paws on her master when the older woman couldn't even defend herself. They had held down Shizune, but Sakura had kicked and punched and used her _chakra_ to keep them away, demolishing half the Hokage Tower in the process. But as expected, one kunoichi against a dozen ANBU Root division members did not stand a chance. They had pounced on her as one, and she had given them hell but they were able to knock her out, breaking her arms to prevent her doing any damage. Tsunade had been screaming the whole time, begging them to leave her alone.

Sakura nearly cried then. Tsunade never begged. _Never_.

And then she woke up in this cell, every single part of her body aching.

Sakura felt her heart racing again. She willed the anxiety attack – the panic – at the Thought of Tsunade subside. Was she safe? Or was she dead? Where was Naruto? Kakashi? Sai?

_Naruto…!_

Sakura used her shoulder to prop herself up on the wall. Her cheek scraped against the rough surface. She didn't care. She needed to get out of there. She needed to see her _Shishou_. She needed to find Naruto! Everything always turns out fine when Naruto was around.

It may have been out of pure determination that got her able to stand on her feet, her right knee nearly giving away under her weight. Seeing her arms like purplish rubber hanging at her sides made her sick, and utterly helpless. It was then did she discover how close to being completely useless she was without her arms. She could not fight, could not heal.

Sakura raised her head. It didn't matter. If she had to bite Shimura Danzo to death, she would!

"Sakura?"

Sakura warily squatted, making herself as small as possible in the far end of her cell. Pain shot through her chest at the sudden movement, and she bit down hard on her lip as she heard vague and very light footsteps. She did not know why, but she felt her whole body start to shake. It was one of those rare occasions when she was truly, truly afraid. And there were only two occasions in her life that she had been genuinely afraid; one was when she first saw Naruto's _Kyuubi_ form, and the other was when she first encountered Orochimaru. But that was because the snake had used his _genjutsu_ on her, showing her the possibility of a painful and gruesome death.

But right now was different. It was not a _genjutsu_. Her broken arms were real. The _pain _was real. Her _helplessness _was real.

She did not even notice she had started to hold her breath when she saw a shadow round the corner, and the willowy figure of a haggard Shizune appeared soon after. She looked unharmed but her eyes kept darting here and there, over her shoulder, as if expecting someone to pounce at her from the darkness.

Sakura started to breathe then and there, sagged against the wall, her heart doing erratic jumps and throbs. "Oh, god! Shizune! You scared me…!"

Shizune, at the sight of her, gasped and was immediately kneeling by the bars. "Sakura, what have they…" her voice faded as her eyes fell on the pink-haired _kunoichi's_ arms.

"_Shishou_… is _Shishou_ all right?" Sakura asked as she summoned all her energy to her legs. Her _chakra_ reserves were dwindling fast, but she didn't care. In a great effort that nearly made her black out, she stumbled her way to Shizune, who immediately cupped Sakura's face gingerly with her hands. Shizune's touch was cold on Sakura's skin, and she leaned in on her palms desperately.

"Tsunade-sama is… right now… detained…" The pained expression on Shizune's face made Sakura start to panic again.

"Did that bastard hurt her? Did that bastard…? If I ever… I'll kill…!" Sakura started to hyperventilate.

Shizune reached down and started to rub her back. "You shouldn't have done what you did. Tsunade-sama nearly had a heart-attack when she saw them knock you down." Instantly, the woman's fingers nimbly trailed down her broken limbs, healing her with the green cloak of chakra.

Sakura felt the cool sensation on her skin and winced as she felt her bone tissue regenerate and connect painfully, the purple bruises fading as Shizune hovered her palms over them. "Where is she?"

Shizune's face was grim. "She's in her room, a dozen of Root's members guarding her door, and a barrier seal surrounding her bed to prevent her from _chakra_ regeneration. Danzo's persistent in putting her up for trial."

Sakura closed her eyes tiredly. The Hokage was the leader of the village. If anything went wrong, it would always be the leader's fault. Tsunade saving the villager's lives would amount to naught, because the village itself was leveled down close to nothing. Perhaps it was true that they were not prepared for the attack. Pain had been a mystery. Had it not been for Naruto, everyone would have died. Sakura wouldn't be surprised of Danzo started making up stories about Naruto next, just to get him out of the way. That hateful, hateful man! He would do anything he thought best for the village, and it didn't matter how he did it and who he stepped on. Leaf History was full of his almost hideous plans and schemes, an unseen force lurking beneath the Leaf's foundations.

Oh, how Sakura would have loved to wrap her fingers around that thick neck of his and squeeze and squeeze...

"Don't force yourself too much," Shizune said silently, and Sakura's eyes popped open. She had unconsciously clenched her newly healed fists around the bars of her cell. She knew that even with Shizune's healing skills, bone tissue was still bone tissue. It would still take at the least three to four days in a cast before it fully recovered. Over-exerting would cause it to snap again.

Sakura raised a hand in front of her face and flexed her fingers. They were stiff, and she could hardly move them, but at least the pain was gone. Shizune started to work on her knee next, then her left rib, which she soon discovered to be cracked.

"Don't waste too much _chakra_, Shizune. We may have to break out of Konoha because of the events that are happening."

The comment made Shizune avert her eyes from Sakura's face. "We cannot leave."

"Of course we can. And I'd love to see them try to stop us when we do. We'll find Kakashi-sensei, and all the _Jounin_. We'll overthrow Danzo, and once I reach Naruto – "

"Naruto is a missing nin. I doubt he would be hanging around the village outskirts. And Danzo has declared martial law within the village walls. No one is to leave or enter without the Sixth's permission."

Sakura, after immediately dismissing the fact about Naruto, scoffed. "It wouldn't matter once I kill him."

"You cannot kill him."

Sakura's eyes widened, a bit insulted. "Well, of course, alone I wouldn't be able to get near him, but – "

"It's Tsunade-sama's orders not to oppose Danzo."

"_What?"_

And Shizune's gaze returned to meet Sakura's incredulous glare. "But you, Sakura, have other orders."

Sakura lethargically shifted her knees and leaned against the bars to make sure she didn't miss a thing Shizune was about to say. "I'm listening." Her voice didn't seem like her own.

"When you get the opportunity to escape, take it."

Sakura had to pause a moment before she understood what Shizune had just said. While normally, she obeyed orders without question, there had been too many confusing events lately that she did not understand. "Tsunade-sama wants me to escape? _Alone?_ But what about you? What about _Shishou_? _What about Danzo?"_

"There are bigger things happening right now, Sakura. Bigger than you and me. Bigger than Naruto or Tsunade-sama. The village is at its weakest, and the only thing that's keeping Iwa and Kumo at bay is Danzo. Tsunade-sama knows this. Every _Jounin_ and _Chuunin_ know this." Shizune frowned. "Only for some reason, your batch of _Chuunin_ refuses to understand."

Sakura felt her newly healed hands once again squeeze the bars. "It's simple. It's just unbelievably wrong!"

"Pain's full force was too much, and it might take months before we recover. Tsunade-sama knows she would not be able to defend Konoha if ever the neighboring Shinobi Villages decide to take this advantage, especially with her state. Taking back the title will do the village little good."

"Then why is Danzo hindering her from recovering by using seals?" Sakura demanded. "I have to set her free!"

"Set her free and then what?" Shizune snapped back. "Leave the village and risk getting shot down as a missing nin? Tsunade-sama won't make it within two steps out the village walls."

"And what makes you think I can make it alone?"

"Because Tsunade-sama will send assistance. The Fifth is going to hand-pick your back-up. Personally."

Sakura felt the anger seep out of her in resignation, her grip on the bar slacked and she rested her forehead on the cold metal. "I don't want to go," she whimpered. "If everyone's staying, I don't want to go."

"You can't stay."

"I want to stay!"

"If you stay, you'll die!" Shizune shouted, gripping Sakura's shoulder meanly and shaking her.

Of course, Shizune was never known to joke around, not on circumstances like this. Sakura could only stare at her before falling back. The older woman took this opportunity to elaborate what she had just said. "You knew better than to have fought the Sixth, Sakura. You were the only one stupid enough to do so. They've accused you of treason. You were too reckless."

_Reckless_. Haruno Sakura was never reckless… She just did what she thought was right. She shook her head. She did not know what to do anymore. "This is not the Konoha we know. This is not my Konoha…"

"But it is _still _Konoha. And at this moment, that's all that matters. So long as it exists, there is a chance of bringing it back to the way it was. But until then, _you have to live._"

It was all Sakura could do not to shake the bars in anger. She nodded stiffly, disgruntled. "All right, but I doubt I'd be able to succeed getting out this cell, more so the village, without getting caught."

Shizune looked over her shoulder again, a bit frightened, then pressed closer to Sakura and hissed, "You must take this with you." And she produced from one of her overly long sleeves two fat scrolls sealed with Tsunade's _shachihata_.

Sakura eyed the scrolls as if it were poisonous snakes. And then the recognition hit her. She shook her head adamantly, backing away. "I can't take these…"

Shizune knocked the scrolls closer to Sakura, making Sakura jump. "Tsunade-sama wants you to take these to safety. Part of her instructions was to sign this when you reach safer grounds." She pointed at the thicker of the two scrolls. The look in her eyes was unreadable as she pushed the objects into Sakura's arms. Sakura instantly dropped them to the ground as if burned.

"I can't take these! Tsunade-sama needs these scrolls!"

"Just take them!" Shizune's eyes widened when they heard footsteps down the chamber.

Without thinking, Sakura grabbed the scrolls and carelessly stuffed them inside the front of her shirt. The sudden movement made her joins crack, but she didn't care.

"Someone's coming." Shizune suddenly was on her feet. "I have to go." She turned to Sakura and gave her a nod. "Good luck, Sakura. And be safe." And the woman disappeared in a whirl of smoke.

Scuttling back to the far wall, heart in her throat, Sakura reached up and plucked the torch with clumsy fingers. She heard the footsteps come closer. Her hands shaking, she threw the torch onto the ground and dug her heels into the fire, plunging her into claustrophobic darkness. Crouching once again into the wall, she hugged her knees to her chest, feeling the scrolls against her breast.

* * *

The village renovations were barely completed for the last three days when new rules had been laid down and Sai found himself back behind his porcelain mask as he treaded his way through the crowded entrance of the Administration building. Danzo had always been a patient man, but Sai didn't want to test that patience when he had already received the same summons twice in one day. He had put it off once when Yamato had asked him to help around the excavation of any possible survivors in the heart of the residential area. Out of respect to his former Captain, he had obliged, but doubted there were survivors in that rubble. Pain had done a clean job of demolishing Konoha to dust.

When Sai had gotten back to his apartment after spending three hours hauling out dismembered bodies from the wreckage, a messenger pigeon had been waiting for him by the window. Danzo wanted him in his office, and it looked quite urgent. He hadn't even bothered to clean up. He'd hurried to the Hokage tower immediately.

Sai had a slight idea on what it could be about. Lately, all Danzo ever talked about was Uzumaki Naruto. And if not Naruto, it would be about Haruno Sakura.

Sai frowned at the memory of his teammates – or former teammates. He had heard of Naruto's successful escape from Konoha, and Sai had been informed of the status of the _Jinchuuriki_, when he was declared as a Rogue.

And then there was Haruno Sakura… she was the only one who had dared to defend the Fifth Hokage when Danzo tried to detain her. The thought made Sai uneasy. He had never really resisted Danzo before and he didn't know the consequences that lay before anyone who ever did, but he doubted it would be good.

Shifting his mask from his face and cupping it against the side of his head, he knocked three times before entering Danzo's office.

It was the first time he had been inside the Sixth's office since he had taken up the position, but Sai could already see the change the room had undergone since Tsunade was still in power.

Tsunade's liquor collection was the first noticeable change; the shelf on the left side of the circular chamber was replaced with dark mahogany desks where three masked ANBU were sitting, sorting scrolls and folders and dividing them into three neat piles.

Another obvious change was the large, broad windows that spread behind the Hokage's desk. What used to be clear glass that overlooked the whole village was now black-tinted with a heavy film, undeniably put up to prevent anyone from seeing the inside from the out. Though Sai doubted anyone would try to peek inside a room a hundred meters from the ground. Suspicious old man.

Perhaps it was because of the film that made the room darker than usual. Or perhaps it was the man sitting behind the desk, in his usual simple dirty-white kimono, his right hand in a leather cast and his right eye under layers and layers of white bandages. Much to Sai's surprise, the only thing that did not change in the office was the slender woman in a dark yukata, raven-black hair brushing her shoulders. Shizune.

Sai immediately sank on one knee, his fist planted on the floor. "Danzo-sama."

The man raised his head at him, as usual his one exposed eye narrowed in a thin slit. "Time is short, Sai."

"My apologies." There was no use explaining to this man. Every explanation would all sound like excuses to him.

"It matters little. I have a mission for you." As if an afterthought, he raised his practical hand, and the woman, Shizune, bowed and hurriedly left the room.

Sai followed her with his eyes. When she firmly closed the door behind her, he turned back to Danzo. "Why is she here?"

Danzo's usually grim mouth turned up at the corners. "She is far too valuable to dispose of, having worked under the Princess for nearly all her life. And she doesn't resist."

Resistance, Sai knew, was futile. He rose to his feet. "Can she be trusted?"

"Anyone loyal to Tsunade cannot be trusted. _Used_, yes. But never trusted."

"There are quite a number of them in the Village."

"I'm aware of that." Danzo swiveled his chair – as if he was trying to get the hang of sitting in it – to face the far wall that used to house several potted plants. "I called you here, to ask if you are one of them."

Sai gave the man's back a brief stare before closing his eyes pleasantly, then smiled. "You are questioning my loyalty?"

"I am questioning _everyone's _loyalty."

A normal Danzo trait. He was always a suspicious man by nature. "We are all loyal to the rightful Hokage."

Danzo once again turned his chair to face him. There were too many holes in his answer. The man's eye bore onto his head, as if searching for a reason to doubt him. After a while, he nodded. "But there are others who are not. I know vaguely who they are. Those who follow the path Sarutobi chose to take… The weaker option." His eye shifted to the three ANBU shifting papers on the desk. "But I need to make sure. And I want you to do it for me."

Sai opened his eyes slightly when one of the ANBU handed him a relatively thick folder before returning to his seat. Nimble fingers thumbed through the folder lightly, and familiar names popped out to him.

Hatake Kakashi. Kurenai Yuhi, Iruka Umino, Maito Gai, and several others. Along with the _Jounin_ names were a handful of ANBU and Special _Jounin_ like Yamato, Yamanaka Inoichi, Morino Ibiki, Mitarashi Anko and others. It was like an all new bingo book in itself, if it hadn't been for the _Chuunin_ and _Genin_ names in it. Team Kakasi, Team Kurenai, Team Gai, Team Asuma. Sai's eyes narrowed when he saw Konohamaru's name in there. He snapped the folder shut. "What do you want with them?" he asked soberly.

"I want them monitored. And if worse comes to worst, exterminated. You are the man for the job. It's about time we pull out the weeds from Konoha."

Sai took a breath and let it out in a huff. He slipped the folder into his backpack and nodded briefly. "Understood."

In all the years Sai had worked for the man, he wondered how Danzo could ever trust the Foundation members, when people who are practically emotionless could lie through their teeth.

Sai smirked.

But of course, as Shimura Danzo had said, _use _but never _trust_. Sai wondered if it applied to himself as well, because the one-eyed man was looking at him up and down distrustfully. "Good, you are dismissed."

After executing a salute, Sai turned on his heel and proceeded out the door. The moment he shut it behind him, he turned to his left where he saw Shizune leaning on the wall, eyeing him apprehensively.

He never did get much of an opportunity to work with the woman, except in tailing the _Sanbi_. She seemed like a capable enough assistant to the Lady Tsunade, but looked like she was at a loss for words as they stared at each other in something some people would have defined as an awkward silence.

Without another word, Sai's hand shot and slid through Shizune's hair, his fingers clasping the back of her neck.

Shizune froze, eyes growing wide and hand slipping through her sleeve as if to retrieve a weapon.

Sai swiftly withdrew his hand and waved his two forefingers in front of Shizune's pale face. In between them was a small, round object, red light flickering on and off on one of its surfaces. "You are being heavily watched." Stealthily, he slipped the tracking device into Shizune's hand.

He did not wait for Shizune to say anything, and Sai plucked the ANBU mask from the side of his face and tossed it aside before walking away. It was now time to answer another summons.

He felt a slimy sensation make its way up from his pocket to his shoulder. "I don't think it's advisable for you to come out right now, Katsuyu-sama."

The tiny slug, that which was but a part of the magnificent whole, slithered inside the high collar of his shirt. "I would have to agree, Sai."

Sai wiped the trace of slime off his skin. "Danzo was suspicious enough as it was, but I don't think he's aware of your presence."

The little creature squirmed inside his clothes. "I'm surprised you didn't choose his side."

There was nothing to be surprised about. It was a mere question of priority, if not morality. His mission was given by Danzo himself to blend into Team Seven from the very beginning, and he had filled the role. Loyalties always change, even for an emotionless seventeen-year-old such as himself.

And he was not lying when he said his loyalties belonged to the rightful Hokage.

"Tsunade-sama is waiting in her quarters. Naruto is with her."

"And the guards?"

"All knocked down by Naruto himself."

"Danzo won't be happy with that."

"Naruto is a missing nin now. He couldn't do any more damage than he's already done."

"Good point."

Sai had to admit, Naruto's work was crude and dirty, but effective. He must have used his _Rasengan_ on every single guard he came across to; the hall was practically littered with unconscious bodies of masked men with circular, swirling rips on their clothing.

"I thought Naruto had left," Sai whispered.

Katsuyu wriggled again. "Tsunade-sama ordered me to warn Naruto not to return to the village. But Naruto – being Naruto – did the exact opposite of what he was told to do."

Sai blinked. While he could actually have come close to worrying about the blonde _Jinchuuriki_, Sai could only put on a frown. When he first joined Team Seven, he had tried quite hard to play the part of what could be called an 'obnoxious ass'. Sakura had more than once told him that being tactless and not thinking about what others might feel before talking would cause others to hate him. He had merely smiled at that – because he didn't know how else to react. He did not believe he cared being hated, but somehow, as time passed by with Team Seven, he had found himself researching about how to successfully relate with other human beings. It could possibly have been out of pure curiosity. The desire to _just know_.

And Sai would have believed it to be just that, had he not thought sincerely that the primary reason was Naruto, the boy who had made him thirst to create and know about bonds.

"Naruto will always be Naruto," Sai said to Katsuyu.

"Indeed," the slug answered back.

Sai stepped over the unconscious ANBU guards and pressed his ear against the door that led to Tsunade's sleeping chambers. He could hear nothing.

"It's safe to go in, Sai," Katsuyu said, and the Root member could only nod. It was not as if he did not trust the slug completely. Well, surely not completely. Hard times, hard times. Wariness suddenly started to feel like a curse. He pushed the door open, slipped inside the room.

And gasped.

"What are you staring at, boy? First time you've ever seen an old lady?"

One of the Legendary _Sannin_, Tsunade was famous for three things: brute strength, unbeatable healing ability, and youthful beauty. The old, wrinkled woman sitting in the middle of the bed was nowhere near the legend. If it hadn't been for the long, grey hair gathered into two low ponytails trailing behind her thin shoulders, and the green _happi _with the Japanese character 'gamble', Sai would not have recognized her. The always present rhombus on her forehead was gone.

"You're all shriveled up. But I guess that's better than being dead, yes?" Sai asked, as he always had the knack to say uncomfortable truths without meaning anything.

The woman's cheek twitched before she raised two fingers in front of her, closed her eyes and muttered something under her breath.

Sai felt the small creature hiding in his shirt disappear. Tsunade fell forward, catching herself with one bony arm, panting hard. Sai's eyes traveled to the conspicuous- looking seals surrounding the bed, plain white parchments with odd markings scribbled in them. Danzo's work, obviously. To what extend did those seals do were beyond him. Shifting his gaze a bit to the left, that was when he noticed Naruto slouched at the foot of the other side of the bed, one leg stretched out in front of him, the other pulled up against his chest, his chin resting on the arm hugging his knee. In the darkness of the room, the _Jinchuuriki's_ sky-blue orbs nearly glowed a fiery red. The heat disappeared when his eyes met Sai's dark ones.

"You're alive," Naruto said silently as he lowered his guard and rubbed his nose with a finger, trying very hard – and failing – not to give away the evident relief at knowing one of his teammates was safe.

Sai cocked his head to the side, observing the boy with an emotion one would define as curiosity. "I heard you ran away."

Naruto winced. "I did not _run away_. I _escaped_. There's a difference."

"Of course." Sai rested his weight at the balls of his feet. Naruto did not look like he was in a good mood at the moment, and if Sai weren't Sai, he would have said he understood. He turned to Tsunade's forlorn face. "You summoned me."

Though the Fifth Hokage's body was weakened, the spark in those golden eyes was the same. She was looking back at him with a burning curiosity that could have been mistaken for uncertainty, had he not been Sai. "There are but a few people I could trust, and most of them are already being watched closely. I sent Katsuyu to a number of people to confirm who among you are loyal to me. You being the only one who came must mean that you are the only one who was not hindered to come here by other forces. Danzo must still trust you."

Sai raised his eyebrows. He doubted that. "Danzo asked me to spy for him. On your ranks."

Tsunade's smile broke her wrinkled face. "You were always good at being the double-agent."

Sai returned her smile with his fake one. "You don't even know if you could trust me completely."

Tsunade's smile widened. "I was always a risky gambler."

"What are you betting?"

"The freedom and survival of my apprentice."

Sai's smile faded. He did not expect this coming. He had sort of imagined Tsunade wanting a spy. Not a savior. "You want me to break Sakura out?"

"She'll die at dawn if she doesn't get away."

The insanity of the idea almost had Sai reeling. Chances of escaping Konoha – escaping Danzo – were close to improbable. If he ever did get Sakura out from where she was being held captive, and then out of the Village, they would be, like Naruto, branded as Rogues and would then have Hunter nin on their tails the moment they leap out of the boundary. Then they would be forced to leave Fire Country just to shake them off.

The only way of raising their success rate was a concrete destination. And Sai doubted they have even that. He made the smile return to his lips. "Am I to free her alone?"

"Do you need any more?"

It was a challenge Sai genuinely did not recognize. He gestured slightly with his hand. "And what about you, Lady Tsunade?" He did not see the over-all mission objective, and why Sakura had to be prioritized instead of the Fifth. His eyes drifted back to Naruto, who was now sitting very, very still, legs crossed and hands on his knees, as if in a trance.

Stories of Naruto's battle with Pain had been legendary. The facts varied from one person to another, but Naruto having mastered _Sennin_ Mode was a constant.

"I have Naruto with me," Tsunade told him.

Sai frowned. Too many holes in her plan. It was obvious she didn't trust him enough to tell him everything there was to know about what they were supposed to do. "Why not escape together?"

"Because I do not like keeping all my eggs in one basket. Once they realize Sakura is missing, she will be hunted, even more than Naruto, or Sasuke, or even me."

More secrets. More riddles. "She should go with Naruto instead. Wouldn't you agree that she would be safer in more… trust-worthy hands?"

"I've already put enough eggs on this basket as it is." Tsunade patted Naruto's head affectionately, as would a mother do with her son. The _Jinchuuriki_ did not move a muscle.

Sai could only watch. It was not as if he was not used to working under a number of secrecies. Working for Danzo for quite some time had been training enough. But still… he found himself lost under those ambiguous orders. "What is my mission, then?"

"Your mission is to escape the Leaf alive. And then _stay_ _alive_ until I give you further instruction."

_To stay alive… _That was the mission. The indefinite time frame, the unknown location. It was as if Tsunade didn't think much about _how _he would accomplish the mission.

"Is there a specific place you want us to go?"

"So long as you stay alive, it doesn't matter. I will find you. No matter what."

"And where will _you _go?"

Tsunade sneered. "Nice try, _double-agent_."

Sai narrowed his eyes grimly. Definitely not one-hundred percent trusting. A fine woman, indeed. He nodded. "Understood, my Lady."

Tsunade cocked her head back. It was obvious in her face the doubt she possessed about entrusting a life to him, but there was a small smirk playing on her thin lips. "This is my greatest gamble yet, and probably the only one I will fear losing."

The door behind Sai suddenly opened, making him reach for his _tanto_ out of habit.

"Aren't we jumpy," Hatake Kakashi said blandly as he closed the door behind him.

Sai froze in mid-action, stared at the mask Jounin a few moments, then smiled. "Everyone is, I suppose."

Kakashi stared at him with that one dark eye, the eye that reminded him so much of Danzo. "Is he with us?" he asked Tsunade, but his stare remained pinned on Sai.

"We'll know otherwise if Sakura dies."

That dark eye narrowed menacingly, but was instantly covered with creases when the Jounin smiled beneath his mask, as if to cover the hostility. "Better than no one, I guess." He knelt down the foot of the bed examining the seals surrounding Tsunade. "Shall we begin?"

"I'm counting on you, Kakashi," Tsunade said.

"The pressure is killing me," Kakashi said dryly.

Sai took this as a cue to leave. He stopped when he felt someone touch his shoulder firmly. He looked back and found himself staring at yellow amphibian-like eyes. Naruto.

"I'm counting on you too, Sai. We were… you know… never really that close and all. But I'm asking you… as a fellow teammate, take care of her."

Another emotion he would have identified as desperation, had Sai not been Sai. He nodded at the boy. "I'll do my best." Emotionless people could always lie through their teeth.

He stepped out of the room.

A masked ANBU appeared behind him after turning the first corner from Tsunade's quarters.

"The younger ones are always the most troublesome," said the woman behind the mask as she leaned into Sai from behind.

Sai shrugged his shoulders. "What is it?"

"What are they planning?"

Sai turned to face the woman. Lie through your teeth. "That's for Danzo-sama to know."

"Uzumaki Naruto is in there, yes?"

Sai smiled. "He could be."

The woman cursed under her breath and her hand quickly whipped her _tanto_ out.

Too late.

The world exploded around them and the ANBU woman was thrown forward in a whirl of debris as the door leading the Tsunade's quarters erupted in white light and ripping winds.

_Naruto…_

Sai found himself being blasted back further into the hallway, skidding to a stop by the staircases leading to the lower levels of the tower.

Now was his chance. He bolted down the stairs, not even bothering to look back.

* * *

Sakura's arms flew over her head as a loud explosion caused her dark cell to shake. Dust and small pieces of rock and stone rained down on her as her heart started to hammer against her rib cage, and she cowered by the wall. If only her arms were of use to her, she would have gotten away in a heartbeat.

That would have been a funny joke. Her arms _had_ been of use to her, but she had still been caught. It was hopeless. There were too many of them around for her to even think of escaping.

_No, Sakura… This is not the time to give up!_

Tsunade had entrusted her with two of the most important scrolls of medical _ninjutsu_ history in this lifetime. Failure was not an option! Escape was imperative.

She looked down at her hands, close to unmoving. It was the most she could do to wriggle her fingers and bend them. Although Shizune had healed her, the least she needed was a cast. A splinter would do, even.

She wrapped her arms weakly around herself, wincing as she heard her brittle bones grinding against each other. She could feel the scrolls under her shirt, blinked back the tears threatening to flow down her cheeks.

She had to be strong.

Her head shot up when she heard footsteps scrambling down the prison hall. She blinked in the darkness, afraid. She was wounded, unarmed and carrying precious objects that could be easily taken from her. She felt the determination bubble up her gut. If she needed to defend these scrolls with her teeth, then so be it.

The ground beneath her continued to shake and a cloud of dust rose from the rarely walked-on prison floor. Sakura blinked as small particles started to irritate her eyes.

And from the smokescreen flooding everything around her, a familiar vision in black appeared before her, breaking through the thick barrier of smoke and dust and rock and stone.

"Sai?" Sakura sputtered, honestly quite confused. "What – ?"

"_Ninpo. Choujuu Giga,"_ Sai muttered, and in a flash of swirling scrolls and a graceful flick of a brush, a huge falcon soared to life. It retracted its wings, as if annoyed at being summoned in such a cramped prison cell. From brush to blade, Sai had his _tanto_ in his left hand and had swung the hilt of his weapon against the heavy lock of the bars. It fell onto the floor with a loud clang, and Sai kicked the door open.

"Sai? What's going on?" Sakura asked as she fought the urge to laugh in hysterical joy for the rescue attempt. Of all the people to come to her aid, Sai would have been the last in her mind. But beggars weren't choosers. She was sincerely glad he came.

Scrambling to her feet, her crisp limbs still around her body, she felt Sai's arms around her as he huddled her into his ink familiar.

"Are you ready to be a Rogue?" Sai asked over the loud rumbling of the walls as he held her to him tightly.

"What – ?"

Too late.

The falcon swooped down and burst into flight without warning, its wings crashing against the tight walls surrounding them.

And all Sakura could see were the buttons and zippers of Sai's top as he pressed her head down to his chest. The world spun around her, feeling her stomach do uncomfortable flip-flops as the falcon dove and swooped and rose into unseen passages. No sooner did Sakura hear loud protests and the cold midnight air suddenly stung her skin to the point of pain.

She looked up just in time to see the falcon break into the open night from one of the large windows of the administration building. A few seconds, they spent hovering over the sleeping village. There was no moon tonight, and the clouds cast eerie shadows over the buildings and houses below them.

Sakura looked up to examine Sai's pale face half hidden in darkness. The boy looked, as always, scarily calm, that small fake smile pulling at his lips and those flat, glassy eyes staring down at the view as if looking for something. Sakura followed his gaze and true enough, there was something worth seeing.

Over the distance, Sakura spotted a familiar-looking toad disappearing with a loud pop and a flurry of smoke.

"Naruto – !" Sakura screamed after Naruto's toad, reaching out a hand as if to will it back.

Sai had his arm around her more tightly, keeping her from falling. "The moment we pass the village boundary, it's all running and hiding."

Sakura's eyes widened at him. "Are you… sent by Tsunade-Shishou? To assist me?" It was probably the most unlikely choice. She had hoped it would be Kakashi-sensei.

"Something to do with eggs and baskets," Sai muttered ominously, confusing himself and Sakura as well.

If it were the first time she had met Sai, she would have immediately knocked him over for talking weird. But having worked with him for several months had been good enough to prepare her from the bizarreness that was his person.

Root members were supposedly trained to lose emotion in order to function with close to perfect efficiency in missions. Sai was the epitome of blandness. Before he had joined Team Seven, he was an insensitive jerk who said everything as if to purposefully annoy the people around him. Because he did not have a definitive personality, he had opted to putting up a certain mask as an obnoxious moron who lacked tact.

It seemed to have gotten worse when he desperately tried to _'understand'_ the meaning of bonds after meeting Naruto. Questions people normally knew the answer to kept on popping out of his mouth that could drive a person to insanity, especially since he had taken to getting advice from Idiot Manuals and How-To books. The boy was seventeen years old with an emotional level of a kindergartener. It had annoyed Sakura to death at some point, but it had eventually lost its novelty after a while and she discovered the best way to deal with his handicap was ignoring him completely.

It was hard to ignore him now.

"Where are we going?" Sakura asked him as she gave the village a lingering look, as if knowing that it would be a while before she saw it again.

"A place where we can stay alive."

A weird answer, but a valid one. "Where is that?"

Sai made a quick hand sign and the falcon started to fly north. "Anywhere but here. Be ready."

Sakura swallowed. She did not feel too comfortable running blindly to an indefinite destination in an indefinite time frame. The only thing that kept her from protesting was the fact that it was Tsunade who had hand-picked Sai as her companion for the possible remainder of her life.

Thoughts too many to make sense to started to parade through her mind as she let herself lean against Sai's sturdy frame, grateful for the warmth his body emitted against hers. It was only then did she feel herself trembling from head to foot, and the broken bones of her arms, half-treated, started to throb painfully.

She looked over her shoulder, at the half-destroyed Hokage Tower, at the dark houses whose windows one by one lit up as the inhabitants of Konoha started to awaken to the ruckus that was caused by Team Seven.

She hoped everyone was all right.

"Tsunade-sama is with Naruto," Sai whispered in her ear, as if reading her thoughts.

Sakura, surprised and relieved, felt the scrolls under her shirt shift and she sighed. "Thank goodness. We should find them, then."

"We can't."

"Why?"

"Those aren't the orders. Baskets and eggs. She said not to put all her eggs in one basket," Sai said, frowning.

Sakura frowned with him. There were too many things she wanted to ask him, but she knew she would only get half-baked answers and riddles. She impulsively felt very, very tired. Leaning her forehead against Sai's shoulder, she closed her eyes in defeat.

Right now, her life was in the incapable hands of a Root member that would probably drive her crazy in the long run.

She wrapped her throbbing arms around her body tighter, somehow finding comfort in the feel of the scrolls against her skin.

* * *

_**A/N: An attempt on something different. Review if you like. =)**_


	2. Unacceptable Changes

_**Chapter Two:**_

_**Unacceptable Changes**_

* * *

Danzo frowned as he looked up onto his tower. With Tenzo – or Yamato, as he so persistently asked to be called – the village renovations, with the Hokage tower and the five-hundred meter radius around it prioritized, had been smoothly completed in three days.

As Danzo looked at the gaping hole at one side of the building where Tsunade used to be detained, and then at the other hole where the slug woman's apprentice had escaped, he could only feel his temple throb in annoyance. He did not know the _Jinchuuriki_ had reached that level where he could infiltrate his ranks without being detected, and could bring down twelve of his men guarding the Fifth. He had underestimated him. He should have known that the Uzumaki beating Pain was not out of pure luck alone.

An ANBU appeared before him, kneeling with his fist on the ground. "We searched everywhere, Hokage-sama. We couldn't find it. We are suspecting that the apprentice may have taken it with her."

Of all the luck. "How did the apprentice escape when I specifically told you to incapacitate her?" Danzo asked silently.

"It appears she had outside help, sir."

Of all the things he hated, it was a traitor. There too many of them running around, surrounding him. The seed Sarutobi planted within the Leaf was weak, but it ran deep. Exterminating it would take months. Even years.

It didn't matter. He had all the time in the world.

"Have you sent out for Yamato for me? I want the renovations done by the end of the week."

The ANBU in front of him looked uneasy. "Yamato insists on sticking to the schedule and rebuilding the Academy before coming here. He has just finished with the hospital and the water tower."

Danzo's frown deepened. He knew that the Academy should be prioritized in order to add people to their ranks if –_ if _– any of the neighboring Hidden Villages try anything dirty, but he couldn't help but feel as if Yamato made up that excuse just to leave Danzo without an office. He could always hire normal carpenters for the job, but that would once again cost money they did not have at the moment. "When will he come to fix my tower?"

The ANBU shifted. "The man has been working for three days straight, sir. It would be better if we let him rest, or else risk losing a capable asset."

"Of course." Danzo turned away and let his gaze wander into the cloudy night sky. "And what of the princess?"

"Sightings of a summoning familiar seven-hundred kilometers north of the village parameter were noted to have disappeared with her, sir. The familiar was confirmed to be the late Jiraiya's toad."

The late Jiraiya's toad. Soon, Gamabunta would be known as Uzumaki Naruto's toad, as it had been known as Namikaze Minato's toad once.

"And the team dispatched to bring her and her apprentice back?"

"Ah… err…"

Danzo's practical eye narrowed. "You _did _send a retrieval team, yes?"

The ANBU shifted in his place. Danzo could practically _smell _the man sweating. "Most of Root has been dispatched to the North-Western and North-Eastern border – by your orders – for patrol against Kumo and Iwa. Half of the remaining people of the division were brought down by the Uzumaki before he disappeared. We cannot afford to send out any more men without ensuring your safety, my Lord."

Danzo tried to ponder on this for a while until another man with a mask appeared before him.

"The accomplice on the escape of Haruno Sakura has been identified, sir," said the newcomer, lowering his head slightly.

Danzo's eyebrows raised involuntarily. "Well?"

The newcomer produced what looked like a cracked mask. He handed it over to Danzo, then resumed his place on the ground.

Danzo turned the mask over in his hand, his fingers scraping the peeling paint gingerly. He knew the details of every single mask his men wore; it was a sort of insurance to recognize everyone with or without the mask.

At the recognition to which the mask in his hand belonged to, Danzo's mouth suddenly broke open into a wide smile, nearly cracking his dry lips. It seemed like it wasn't over yet, after all.

His protégé was doing him proud.

"If the boy is with her, I have nothing to worry." Danzo slipped the mask within the folds of his kimono. "Sai is, after all, a very capable pawn." He gestured with his hand at the newcomer. "You are dismissed."

"Sir," the masked man said and was gone in a blink of an eye.

Danzo looked up at his demolished tower again. "I want Hyuuga Neji and Nara Shikamaru to report to me at once."

The remaining ANBU paused before answering. "I can bring the Hyuuga to you this very moment, sir. But the Nara, I'm afraid, is sporting a broken leg from Pain's invasion. I do not think he would be able to answer summons, Hokage-sama."

Danzo felt his cheek twitch in irritation. Shikamaru was an important part of his plans. The relationship between Suna and Konoha depended on it. He rubbed his scarred chin with his left hand. He had never really quite grasped the reason on how that punk, Gaara of the Sand, became the Kazekage. And to think, the kid had always been leaning towards the Uzumaki.

Yes, the future between Suna and Konoha's alliance was… _bleak_.

But he was in no hurry to give the people of the Sand a reason to break the alliance once they learn Naruto was gone and had taken the princess with him. That Gaara could pose a threat to his hierarchy if he decided to play the faithful friend.

Nara Shikamaru was crucial to his plans. But that would have to wait until tomorrow.

"Then send for the Hyuuga at once." Danzo closed his one eye slowly. "I have an offer he wouldn't be able to refuse."

And if he dared refuse, Danzo could only take that as a sign that it was the right time to stretch Konoha's roots towards Kumogakure. And they could take their pick between two pretty little white-eyed girls.

* * *

Sai's _chakra_ reserves were not as abundant as he thought they were, and after three hours of flying, he was forced to dismiss his familiar and set camp in a small cave in the forest west-northwest of Konoha. Had it not been for Sakura, who had conveniently slept in his arms the whole time, he would have chosen to continue on foot. He doubted any Hunter nin could have kept up with his pace – he was an expert in shaking off anyone who wanted to track him down – but still it was best to be safe than sorry.

With the lead they had ahead of any shinobi traveling on foot, there was a slim chance those following them would be able to catch up, but Sai had decided against starting a fire. He did not plan to stay in that cave for too long, and erasing the evidence when they finally did continue on their way would take too much time.

Gently lying Sakura down on a patch of dried grass near the opening of the cave, it was the first time he got to take a look at how badly her body had suffered. When he had released her from the cell, he had noticed how she moved differently than she would have. Sakura was lithe and fairly agile. He was surprised to have found himself supporting majority of her weight when he ushered her to his falcon.

Now, Sai was no medic, and he was practically untalented when it came to healing, but he knew by just looking at her that her arms were not how they used to be. She had kept them near her body the whole time, hardly moving, as if trying hard to hide something. Moving closer to her, Sai took it into himself to examine her arms.

Pressure points were nothing new to a shinobi, as well as the bone and muscle structures of the human body. Every ninja had to know the most quick and efficient way to kill, and Sai was a master in assassinations.

Gently guiding his middle and pointing finger across her clammy skin, he detected several weak spots on her forearms, as if they were injured and then desperately patched up hastily with first aid. The muscle tissue surrounding the evident cracks were tender.

Sai sat back on his haunches when Sakura's green orbs opened groggily, and she clutched the front of her shirt almost subconsciously.

"Are you all right?" Sai asked as he let go of her arms.

Sakura slowly sat up, shaking her head briskly to get rid of the remainder of sleep. "I'm fine," she murmured.

Sai did not believe her. She did not look fine at all. Her face was a bit blue, her pink hair matted down at some places while sticking up at others. But she had little regard to herself, as always. At that moment, her eyes had begun running up and down Sai's body, probing him for any wounds as if second-nature to do so.

Sai observed her as she forcefully peeled her right arm from her body, reached out as if to touch his face. It was then did he realize the warm, wet sensation on his left cheek. He did not even notice he was wounded. It was probably a scratch he had obtained when they escaped from the Administration Building.

Sai immediately grabbed her hand when the green glow of _chakra_ erupted from the tips of her fingers. "This isn't the time to waste _chakra_ on a mere scratch like this."

He should have known she wouldn't listen. Sakura, in the months Sai had gotten to know her by working, was naturally nurturing. And stubborn. It was the perfect combination for the perfect medic.

Too bad she was just too weak to protest this time. "A small wound could still get infected," she countered weakly as she watched her hand wrapped in his fingers.

It was the first time he had gotten to hold her hand. It was always her fist that tried ever so often to make contact with him. He hadn't noticed she had such slender fingers. He rubbed her knuckles with his thumb and frowned. The bones in her hands were brittle as well. He wondered what Danzo's men did to her. Giving her one final squeeze, he let go of her. He wiped at the blood on his cheek. "It won't be efficient to have you weak and defenseless, especially since we've barely even begun. Hunter nin could be on our tails as we speak. And _me_ fighting them off while defending _you_ isn't going to be easy." Sai waited for her anger to flare at him. He had another thing coming.

Sakura let her hand fall on her lap, her eyes still watching her fingers as she tried to bend them, making her wince. She nodded in silent agreement.

"Is there anything you'd want me to bring?" Sai thought it proper to ask, as he had read in certain books about women wanting men to be sensitive of their needs.

Sakura's disturbingly dilated eyes looked up at him in curiosity, locking on his dark ones. "I need… uh… medical supplies…"

Sai's lips pursed. Tsunade's orders were so sudden that he was not able to prepare anything, from food to water to shelter. A medical kit didn't even cross his mind. He slowly settled on sitting down on the ground resting his arms on his knees. "The nearest village is an hour and a half on foot. We can get provisions from there before we set out to…"

Set out to where? They didn't even know where to go.

"An hour and a half…" Sakura whispered, looking wistfully towards the direction of Konoha.

If they started walking right now, they would be able to make it to that village before sunrise. Sai felt at his backpack to remind himself he had money with him. "We could get clothes. Disguises. And other supplies. Water. Food. Medicine." He eyed her arms again. Although he knew he was incapable of worrying for her welfare, there was something quite uneasy every time his gaze fell on her limbs. "We should at least fix you up temporarily."

Sakura's face scrunched up in confusion. It was obvious she was not used to being the one worried about. "I need a sturdy splinter. And strips of cloth," she said after a while.

Sai nodded obediently and was off in search for any potentially usable pieces of wood for Sakura's arms. This was probably the hardest mission he had undertaken to date. While it would have been easier to abandon a virtually useless teammate to raise the success rate of the mission, it was the first time he was given the objective to keep that virtually useless teammate _alive_. It was not new to him, however. There were many times he had been teamed up with Sakura, and it was quite hard to believe even for him that she was probably the only one who was adequately compatible with him.

One of his biggest problems, however, when paired with her was the flippant way she made small-talk about nonsensical things that didn't concern the mission at all, which would evidently make him ask more questions, which would in the end irritate her and then she would punch him.

It had always been the pattern when they'd first met. They would walk in silence, Naruto would give him nasty looks, and then would start to badmouth him when he'd ask what his problem was.

And then Sakura would suddenly attack him for _'insulting'_ their former teammate turned traitor, Uchiha Sasuke, when all he'd said was his honest opinion.

And then there was this one time when Sakura had asked him about his paintings and then look at him weird when he'd tell the truth about his lack of emotion, thus hindering him from labeling his work with titles.

It was as if they had judged him because he was not like them, that he could never be like them. If he had not been Sai, it could possibly have hurt his feelings.

If he had any, that is.

Sai smiled indifferently at the thought. He had never been hurt with petty things like those. Nodding in triumph when he found a promising enough branch to hack for Sakura's splinter, he did his work swiftly and returned to the cave where he left her.

He found her sitting up, her legs crossed in front of her, hands limply on her knees. On her lap rested two suspicious-looking scrolls, both of which had Tsunade's seal. Sakura's head was heavily bowed, face hidden in a curtain of pink hair, She jumped when he sat in front of her, noisily dumping the wood he had gathered by her legs.

"Will these do?"

"Huh," was all Sakura said, barely glancing at the branches.

Sai blinked, unsheathed his _tanto_ and used it to rip the longer of his shirt sleeves, quickly tearing it into long strips to hold the makeshift cast. He held out his work to her, but she didn't even acknowledge them. This was going to be harder than he thought. Sighing, he reached out to the scrolls to move them away, and Sakura nearly snapped his hand off.

"_Don't touch those!"_

Sai narrowed his eyes at her before raising his hands for her to see, as if in surrender. "We need to get you patched up. We don't have much time." They had to reach the nearest village, and plan where they have to go after that. Running blindly into nowhere was not a good way to waste time and energy.

Sakura's expression didn't change, but she fingered the branches with clumsy hands. "I know. I'm sorry. Just… I… Just don't touch the scrolls."

Sai looked down at the objects on her lap curiously. Whatever they were, there was no mistaking that they were the reason Tsunade had been so desperate to get Sakura out of the village.

"_Once they realize Sakura is missing, she will be hunted, even more than Naruto, or Sasuke, or even me."_ Tsunade's voice rang in his head. Could this be the reason behind Tsunade's insistence on her apprentice's safety? These scrolls?

Sai held out his hand. "Your arm."

Sakura, for the longest possible moment, held his gaze before lifting her left arm to him. Sai gingerly took her by the wrist, once again felt for the tender spots of her bones, crudely lined the branches with her appendage and secured it with the pieces of cloth that used to be his sleeve. He worked in silence, patching up one arm then the other. All the while Sakura watched his untrained fingers while he worked, sometimes glancing up at his face. She never said a word, which was good, because Sai knew that his bandaging skills were nowhere comparable to Sakura's.

When he was done, he dug into his backpack for his ever-handy blanket. Fastening Sakura's splintered arms close to her abdomen, he tied the blanket around her tightly to make sure her limbs did not make any unnecessary movement. When he was done, she looked like half a mummy. And she did not look too happy about it.

Ignoring her earlier warning, Sai grabbed the scrolls she so possessively told him not to touch and unceremoniously stuffed it into an opening between her arms and the blanket.

Sai smiled at her, a bit relieved that they could get going. "All done."

Sakura looked at him levelly, then got to her feet.

Sai stood up with her.

Sakura kicked him on the shin. "Asshole," she muttered before setting out of the cave.

Fighting back the pained moan that nearly escaped his mouth at the contact between foot and shin, he followed after her. "What did I do?"

"You touched the scrolls. When I specifically told you not to," she spat over her shoulder at him. For someone who had nearly been a zombie just a few moments ago. She sure recovered fast.

Sai had read in a book that you should let women speak their minds out, so Sai decided not to interrupt her when she started muttering complaints as she trudged onwards, crushing leaves and twigs like a civilian lost in the woods. At least she was going the right way. The last thing he wanted right now was to try to stir her into another direction when she was so purposefully set on her chosen path. It looked quite comical, really, what with a blanket haphazardly tied around her, and her pink hair sticking up here and there.

But Sai could not laugh.

* * *

Nara Shikamaru, for the first time in his very short existence, found sitting still an impossibility. Everything was changing around him while he lay in his hospital bed. And while he would have thought this to be a blessing, he found an annoying nagging feeling deep in his gut. For the past four days, his thoughts had been filled with nothing but Kurenai Sensei and her baby. The last time he saw her was when he left her to be evacuated into the underground shelters. He wondered day and night if they had already been relocated. Asuma would never forgive him if anything happened to his family. And he could never forgive himself.

News from the outside always came in the form of Yamanaka Ino and Akimichi Chouji. Every time they reported about the recent events of the village, Shikamaru would feel his skin start to crawl at the drastic changes Danzo was making.

Naruto was gone, Sakura and Sai followed next. Team Seven had disappeared, along with a weakened Tsunade.

"If it means staying alive…" Ino left the sentence hanging as she handed Shikamaru the plate of peeled and sliced apples she had on her lap.

Shikamaru, who had his arms tucked behind his head, glanced at the plate briefly before returning his gaze at the window. "Not hungry."

"You haven't been eating properly," Ino pointed out, hovering the plate in front of his face insistently.

"Not hungry."

Ino, after hesitating in whether or not to push the subject, uncharacteristically withdrew the apples and placed it back on her lap. "You know _now_ of all times you have to keep your strength up."

_Now of all times._ Ino made it sound like they, too, had to follow Team Seven's example and up and leave the village. He decided to keep his thoughts to himself, lest Ino started getting ideas. "I don't like apples."

"Would you like me to peel a pear for you then?"

Shikamaru gave Ino a withered look.

Ino lowered her eyes. Her usually shiny hair, Shikamaru noticed, needed combing, and there were dark circles under her glassy blue eyes, as if she hadn't been sleeping well. She had always been skinny, because she insisted on going on weird diets only women could understand, but right now, she had lost a great deal of weight, especially in the face. Shikamaru suspected it had nothing to do with her diet routine.

"Anyway," Ino said bleakly, placing the plate of apples on the side table and wiping her hands on her skirt. Shikamaru noticed she was also very filthy, as if she hadn't taken a bath since the invasion. "I came to tell you some more bad news."

Shikamaru closed his eyes. More bad news. He wondered who had died, or who Danzo suspected to be a traitor. So far, there had been several arrests, but no executions. At least Danzo was aware of the dwindling manpower enough not to go power-crazy and start hacking heads off without interrogations. "Lay it on me."

"They've arrested Kakashi."

Shikamaru let out his breath in a huff. He did not even know he was holding it. "On what grounds?"

"Providing outside assistance. They're suspecting him of having been an accomplice on the escape of Tsunade-sama and Naruto." Ino looked away. "What sucks is, starting today, I've been assigned to participate in the Torture and Interrogation. At least dad's there. I have nothing to worry… but… " She scratched her temple in annoyance. "I wouldn't have believed I would be interrogating Leaf Shinobi who've done nothing wrong."

Shikamaru felt the knobs in his head work on their own, thinking about a plan. Unconsciously, his arms left the back of his head, and his hands formed that familiar square with his fingers. A cigarette would have been better, but oh well. "A blessing. You being in the Interrogations Department is a blessing. At least we would have contact with Kakashi."

Ino blinked at him, somewhat in disbelief. "Are you saying… you're going to resist Danzo?" The glassy look in her eyes disappeared slightly, replaced by a spark of hope.

Shikamaru smirked. His late sensei had always praised him for being a great strategist. The first thing he needed was a means of communication with the rest of Konoha Eleven.

He turned to a hopeful Ino and was about to relay some instructions to her when the door suddenly slid open, banging against the wall, making Ino jump up and come between Shikamaru and the doorway, where the man Shikamaru wished he wouldn't be seeing anytime soon stood.

"How are you feeling, Nara?" Danzo asked after examining the room, his always sour expression. Slowly entering the room without being invited, he scraped his mahogany cane across the linoleum before leaning it against the wall.

Shikamaru slowly sat up, wary as a cat threatened by a dog. Ino was in her fighting stance for some reason, although Shikamaru doubted she had any weapons among her person. "Ino, relax. It's just our Hokage visiting a man injured in battle." He gave Danzo a pointed look. "That _is _the case, Hokage-sama?"

Danzo gave Ino a searching gaze when the kunoichi evidently relaxed and went to retrieve the stool she had knocked over when she bounded to her feet. She did not peel her eyes away from Danzo while she did so. "Of course. I'm here to visit the injured. And to give your assignments personally once you are released. I came here to talk to Shikamaru alone, Yamanaka-dono. You may leave."

Ino sat on the stool lousily, crossing her long legs as well as her arms. She made it clear she was staying. "I just got here, sir."

Shikamaru wanted to kick her for her obvious display of insubordination. Did she want to get into trouble with this man? "It's all right, Ino. You should hurry meet up with your dad." _Where this man wouldn't dare touch you with Inoichi around._

Ino looked at him reproachfully. "But I – "

" – you were about to leave anyway," Shikamaru insisted through gritted teeth. Danzo was bad news. He did not look like he was willing to tolerate childish behavior. The man was looking at them impatiently.

Ino hesitantly stood up from her place, gave Shikamaru one last worried look, and made her way to the door without acknowledging Danzo.

Danzo's hand snapped up suddenly and gripped Ino on her shoulder when she passed him, making the blonde jump in surprise. "I heard from your peers that you're promising. You would fit perfectly in the Interrogation Unit."

Ino looked at his hand on her shoulder with an unreadable expression. "I was told once that I was too young to be in the Torture and Interrogation Unit, sir," she said coldly.

Danzo's sour expression melted and he suddenly smiled. It made gooseflesh pop out of Shikamaru's arms. "I've always believed it better to train them while they're young." He let go of her shoulder, and Ino all but ran out the door.

Shikamaru, he soon realized, was clenching his hands into fists. Catching himself, he relaxed his grip. There was no point losing patience with this man. Once he got the chance to lay down the foundations of his plan, everything will be all right. In the meantime, a little butt-kissing wouldn't hurt. "What can I do for you, Hokage-sama?"

Danzo looked over to him from where he stood. It seemed like the man was as wary of him as he was of Danzo. "Your records have astounded me, boy. A _Chuunin_ by the age of twelve, almost as soon as you graduated from the Academy. The only one in the batch so talented to even have caught the eye of the Feudal Lord, who had been eager to invite you as his personal guard."

Shikamaru intentionally started digging into his ear with his pinky finger. "You make me sound cooler than I really am. I'm just a bum who'd rather watch clouds, sir. Nothing more, nothing less."

Danzo was not shaken. "They say you're a great strategist. So good, even, that the team you led was successful in the termination of two of the Akatsuki, without losing a single member in your party."

He did not like talking about the people who had killed Asuma as if it was something he should be bragging about. That mission's success had nothing to do with him. It was all thanks to Asuma that they were able to defeat Hidan and Kakuzu. And people making it sound as if the glory belonged to Shikamaru made his blood boil.

But he was not going to give Danzo another excuse to arrest more of them. He smiled at the man in an attempts at being bashful. "My teammates were capable ninja. It had nothing to do with me, sir." Shikamaru nearly gagged at what he just said. He was never really humble, nor was he a show-off. For someone whose emotions ran through the lines of indifference majority of the time, he was not good in portraying either.

Danzo was peering down at him with that one beady eye. "I came here to ask your opinion about our alliances with other Hidden Villages."

That had completely caught Shikamaru off-guard, and somewhat catching his interest as well. He started to wonder why Danzo would be worrying about foreign relations when the village had hardly even recuperated yet. "Alliances, sir?" he asked.

"Yes." Danzo leaned forward a little. "I was thinking of breaking the alliance with Suna, and build a different bridge with a stronger, more stable Hidden Village. Let's say, Kumo?"

Shikamaru nearly fell out of his bed. This was the last thing he thought he would ever be asked. And Kumo? Kumo! Shikamaru cleared his throat. "In my opinion, sir, it'd be unwise to make enemies of Suna. They've been passing trade with Konoha for a number of years now, and the market has been a constant financial asset to the Leaf. Not only that, but we've already invested too much since they've adopted our Academy Curriculum. Backing out on such an investment wouldn't be wise." He scratched his head at an attempt to look reverent. "And Kumo and Konoha's relationship has been stained throughout history. I don't think anything but schemes and backstabbing would come out of an alliance between Villages that never really clicked from the beginning. Ever since the Hyuuga incident, I don't think Konoha could ever forgive the Hidden Cloud."

Danzo was now rubbing his chin thoughtfully. After a moment of silence, he nodded. "I suppose you're right, boy."

Shikamaru sighed inwardly. Did this man honestly think Kumo could be trusted? Or –

Shikamaru's eyes widened at the realization. But it was too late. Danzo, for someone who had but half a body moving, lunged at him with a speed virtually impossible for a maimed man.

Before Shikamaru could even react, Danzo's one hand formed hand signs Shikamaru had never seen before, and with one swift jab, the man had grabbed him by the neck.

Shikamaru felt bile rise up his throat, and a stinging sensation on his tongue. He clawed at his neck in panic, and the plan he had formulated earlier had flown out the window the moment Danzo's cursed seal settled upon him.

* * *

The moment he learned that Jiraiya died, Naruto found out he was no longer a child. Things had to be done in their own time, and he had already done his part for the time being.

Now it was time to pay respects to his pervy master.

"I wasn't expecting to see you this soon, Uzumaki Naruto," the blue-black haired woman said as she closed the door of the room where she was kind enough to let Tsunade stay for the time being. With all the shadows in that dark tower, Naruto could barely see her placid face. He grinned at her in the darkness anyway.

"I owe you one, Konan."

The woman started moving and in a few moments, the room erupted into a brightness as she stood on tiptoe, her hand on a lever that appeared to be the main switch to the large globe-like object hanging in the high ceiling. Naruto was not surprised when he saw she had changed out of her Akatsuki black robes with the red clouds, and into plain brown robes that did nothing to compliment her paleness. "Let us call it… _even_. But tell me, what brings you to the Village of the Hidden Rain?"

Naruto raised his eyebrows at the woman. It was the first time Naruto had ever set foot in Amegakure, and he had expected it to be wet and humid. He was not disappointed. The village itself was industrialized, though small. Dreary to the point of bleakness, but that could not be helped, what with the weather, though at the moment, the rain had weakened to a faint drizzle. Naruto wondered if it had anything to do with Nagato's death. He also wondered if the citizens of the Rain knew about the mortality of the person they had considered a god until now. Naruto bit his lip. Did the people of the village know that Nagato – that Pain – had offered his life at the vague possibility of peace a sixteen-year-old blonde boy had so confidently promised to achieve?

Konan, as if reading his mind, gestured towards the balcony that overlooked the village. It was not raining as hard, yet the storm clouds hung low and stubbornly refused to let the sun shine. "The moment the rain stopped falling, the villagers may have already known Nagato has passed away. The rain has always protected this place from outsiders since Hanzo's reign, and we have prospered through the years under his protection. It won't take long before other hidden villages know Pain's disappearance, and this place would once again fall prey to outside invasions." Konan looked wistfully towards the village, and Naruto could practically _feel _her worry.

Naruto shrugged. "Why don't you take his place as leader?"

The suggestion seemed to have shocked Konan. Her normally expressionless face scrunched up in confusion. The expression was gone so fast that Naruto wondered if he had been imagining it. "I can never be Nagato. Or Yahiko."

"No one's demanding you to fill in their shoes. You just happen to share the same dream of freeing this village from war."

Konan fell silent as her scarlet eyes examining Naruto thoughtfully. "What has happened to Konoha?"

The woman was sharp. But then again, dragging along a very spent Hokage on a toad all the way to a foreign hidden village was not always normal for a shinobi. Naruto looked away. "Things are changing. I don't think I'm the person to explain what's happening back home, but after you guys left, everything went crazy."

Konan was silent again. She continued her observation of the Jinchuuriki, then nodded, as if understanding that Naruto did not feel like talking about it. "Nagato believed in you._ I_ believe in you. If there is anything I can help you with, name it, and it's yours."

Naruto felt his chest clench painfully. This was it. Finally his chance had come. He had been too busy saving the village, defending it from a foe turned friend. But now he needed to pay a debt he owned his master.

"I came for my master's body."

The revelation caught Konan by surprise. "Jiraiya-sensei's… body?"

"He was perverted and all that, but he was the coolest adult I know, someone who came close to being a father figure other than Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei. And he deserves a proper funeral." Naruto felt his hands clench into fists. The hatred was bubbling up in his chest again. Perhaps, deep down, even though he had cleared everything with Nagato in the end, he could never forgive him for taking away something so precious and irreplaceable as Jiraiya. "If I have to drag back a slimy corpse or a skeleton for that matter, I don't care. I want his ashes back in the Leaf, where they belong."

He felt those scarlet eyes on him again. After what felt like an eternity, Konan lifted her arms, and one by one, paper cranes started to peel away from her, as if she were shedding skin. Naruto watched in wonder as those cranes danced and floated over their heads, growing in number, from tens to hundreds. When Konan finally let her hand drop, the cranes all darted out into the balcony, disappearing into the haze outside.

"I will bring him to you," Konan said silently. "Along with my condolences." A lone tear trickled down her pale cheek, and Naruto turned away, else he would end up crying as well.

* * *

The sun found Sakura sitting on a bench outside a dumpling shop with a bandanna wrapped around her conspicuous pink hair, and her splintered arms hidden within the folds of a robe stolen from a farm they had passed in the outskirts of the village. Sai was sitting beside her, dressed in dark billowy trousers and a dirty shirt and vest topped off with a floppy hat, compliments of the farm also. Their hitai-ate were tucked safely in Sai's backpack, along with the little bread and cheese they were able to buy from the little store that sold nothing more than a few vegetables and a bit of lamb meat. They were able to gather basic medical supplies, but the village had little to offer. She was not complaining. It was better than nothing.

Sakura looked at Sai sideways. At least he had the decency to hide his stomach. That in itself was a relief to her.

She lowered her head. She felt as if she had been running for days although they had been away from the Leaf for but a few hours. Sai was not good company. If anything, he was starting to annoy her. He smiled at everything she said, even when she was threatening to kill him. She had always trusted Tsunade with her life, but began to wonder if her faith was greatly misplaced. Of all people, why did her master have to choose Sai? At normal circumstances, she would have just ignored him and punched him when he acted weird.

But these were not normal circumstances. They were on the run. She had no idea where they were running _to_, but they were running. She raised her head and found three round dumplings on a stick inches from her face.

"Eat," Sai said flatly, his equally flat eyes pinned on her face. "You need to keep your strength up."

Sakura winced as her stomach started to make growling sounds, giving her away. Damn her hands for being useless. She savagely chomped one dumpling with her teeth, nearly snapping the stick with it. Having to be fed by Sai was adding insult to injury.

Forcing to chew down the tasteless dumplings, she turned to the Root member again. Now that they were finally allowed to catch their breath, she found it proper to ask him, "Did _Shishou_ say anything before she let you go?"

Sai blinked down at her from under his floppy hat. Sakura hated it that he had to look at her in silence for a few seconds every time before answering her questions. "She said that you should stay alive until she contacts us again. She said it didn't matter where we were, that she'll find us."

Sakura winced. "Was that all?"

"Afraid so. Was there anything else you wanted to hear from her?"

Was there anything else she wanted to hear from her? What was a girl supposed to want to hear before turning rogue? What a stupid question. She sighed in resignation. "Forget it."

"All right."

And they were silent.

Sakura sighed again. She wondered if her master was doing all right. She was with Naruto, so there was no mistaking that she would be all right. Her thoughts wandered back to the village, the place that was no longer home to her, and she felt a stabbing pain slash through her chest. This was not the time to be homesick. She turned to Sai. "Let's go." And she stood up.

Sai looked up at her, holding out the remaining dumplings. "You should eat."

Sakura frowned. Was this guy for real? "Forget the dumplings, Sai. Or have you forgotten we're being hunted down?"

Sai looked over his shoulder, stood up and leaned over to Sakura. "I'd appreciate it if you don't go shouting that fact. Walls have ears." He shoved the remaining dumplings into her mouth before she could protest. "I've read in a book that women love to diet, but this is not the time to binge on food intake, although you could afford to lose a bit of that fat on your thighs." He withdrew the stick from her mouth and tossed it aside.

Sakura rationalized that murdering Sai would be a waste of energy and time, both of which she did not have an abundance of. She swallowed the dumplings without even chewing, suddenly feeling tired. "Let's… just go, Sai."

Sai looked at her again, a somewhat curious look passing his face. Annoyed, Sakura decided to return his gaze. Those deep, dark eyes set on a pale face, jet black locks of hair poking from under that ridiculous floppy hat, that insolent mouth that smiled at anything and everything without caring if he offended. He looked so much like Sasuke, and that fact fueled her anger more.

When she had first met Sai, that was the first thing she had thought of him. The way he talked, the way he looked. She wondered what made her think about those similarities again.

She had worked with Sai a number of times already as Team Seven, and much to her surprise, they worked quite well, almost to the point when she thought he could read her moves to compliment his in battle. She wondered why it was so difficult to deal with him _outside _the battlefield.

But then again, this was not the time to think about those things.

Sai tilted his head to the side. "Have you got an idea where we could go? A place where you think you can live comfortably?"

The question caught her off-guard. For a moment there, Sai actually sounded concerned of what she thought. A very rare display of empathy. She finally withdrew her gaze, somewhat shyly. "It's a long way from here, but I was thinking of getting help from an ally."

"An ally?"

Sakura bit her lip. "The Sand. We could go to Gaara of the Sand." It was not a farfetched thought. She had once saved the life of the Kazekage's older brother. Surely they would not turn them away?

Sai looked unconvinced. He sat back down. "The Sand is an ally of Konoha," he pointed out. "Do you not think they would turn us in, instead?"

Sakura was taken aback. It never crossed her mind, the possibility of Gaara being against her. After a while, she shook her head. She needed to trust Gaara, because Gaara was not just the Kazekage; he was Naruto's friend. And a friend of Naruto's would never betray anyone in need. He would not betray _her_.

_Right?_

Sai seemed to have sensed her uncertainty, picked up his backpack and slung it over his shoulder. "But I guess it's better than not having a destination at all." He placed a gentle hand on the small of Sakura's back. "If that's where you want to go, then that's where we will go."

Sakura's eyes widened at him as he ushered her forward. "You're going to trust my judgment?"

"I've _never_ doubted your judgment before. Ever. You're always pretty level-headed, although I think you use your emotions more than necessary. And you get mad easily."

Another uncomfortable truth. Sakura let herself be led through the streets of the village. People barely stared at them. No one took much interest in a road-weary young couple passing by. They have, after all, seen many of them all their lives, stopping to stock up on provisions and having a bite to eat before going their way again.

"I'm sorry," Sakura muttered, lowering her head and unwittingly hugging the scrolls in her robes.

"What?"

"For getting mad easily. You say insensitive things to me, and I can't help but get mad at them."

Sai took his time before answering. "Words always get me into trouble."

"How come we could work so well in missions, but end up not agreeing when we just sit down and talk?" Sakura asked, genuinely curious.

Sai thought for a moment, then said, "Because killing does not involve talking."

Sakura looked over to him, watching his steady gaze looking ahead of them. He did not look back, but she felt the hand on the small of her back travel to her shoulder and he squeezed her gently.

"Let's not talk about it. We only end up fighting when we do."

Sakura could only agree.

* * *

_**A/N: I've always loved Jiraiya. I hated Kishi for just letting his corpse disappear into wet nothingness and let it end that way.**_

_**Review if you like. =D**_


	3. Never Home

_**Chapter Three:**_

_**Never Home**_

_**

* * *

**_

Hyuuga Hinata's lavender-white eyes flew over what used to be her mother's garden that was now nothing but a large patch of dirt with uprooted trees and ferns and bushes. Yamato and a number of masons had just finished with the manor, and although it was reduced from its former glory, at least it was shelter.

But the garden was forever destroyed, along with the memories she had made with her mother when she was still alive.

She forced herself not to spill the tears building at the corner of her eyes. She had promised herself and her mother that she would not cry over things she could not control. People had always seen her quite unsure of herself, and there were moments when they had misunderstood her timid personality as weakness. There may even have been small truths hidden in their presumptions, but no one would say Hyuuga Hinata was a crybaby. She would fight, even if it meant losing, and she would lose with pride if she knew she did her best.

And she would smile.

But lately, holding back tears was a challenge for her.

Now that Naruto was gone, Tsunade replaced by Danzo, and her mother's garden destroyed, whatever charm Konoha had was lost to her.

Her head began to throb.

She wondered how she would be able to explain everything to her father and sister when they get back.

Kneeling by the entrance of the now demolished enclosure, she touched the soil with the tips of her fingers and asked forgiveness from her mother when a single tear escaped her eye. She quickly wiped it away. Maybe she would pretend she did not shed a tear.

"_Aneki!"_

She felt her before she actually heard her. Out of nowhere, lithe arms wrapped around her neck from behind as Hyuuga Hanabi gave Hinata her characteristic tight hug.

"Hana-chan, welcome home," Hinata said as she looked over her shoulder to take in the familiar smile on Hanabi's lips. The more Hinata looked at her, the more she reminded her of her cousin, Neji. They bore an uncanny resemblance, as well as her father.

"I was worried about you, _Aneki_. When we received news beforehand of the assault, father and I rushed home as soon as we can. But more than anything, I'm glad you're safe." Hanabi snuggled her cheek against Hinata's lovingly. "The moment we entered the parameter, I was expecting to see the village leveled down to nothing. I was surprised at the rate of the renovations." The younger girl frowned. "The buildings around the Hokage tower seem to be doing especially good..."

"Yamato-san has been busy all week. I can hardly walk around the village without seeing him or his wood clones leading masons and artisans with the restoration. Although I find the gaping holes in the tower very strategically set on either side of the Hokage's office a sight for sore eyes."

Hanabi's light, musical laughter floated to her ears as the girl let go of her neck to kneel beside her on the ground facing the now-gone garden. "This is a sad thing to look at, though," she said silently.

Hinata could only nod, then after a moment asked, "Where is father?"

Hanabi shrugged uncomfortably. "He was summoned by the new Hokage. Hey, is it true the Hokage chased the Lady Tsunade away?"

Another throbbing of her temples.

She tried to ignore the pain and gave her sister a smile. "It wouldn't be good for you to pick up gossip and then freely speak of it in public." The last thing she wanted was Hanabi to get in trouble with the authorities.

The girl lowered her voice as she asked, "Kou said Danzo's men weren't present among the defense against Pain. Is that true, too?"

Young minds never did listen too well to reason. She will have to talk to Kou about loose tongues. But in the meantime, she knew she could not lie to Hanabi. "None of them helped."

"What a horrible man!"

Before emotions got the better of Hanabi – as they always do – Hinata squeezed her shoulder affectionately. "We should prepare dinner for father before he gets home. Most of the elders are in a meeting with their corps and the servants are away to help with the relocation of the civilians." She tried to look her best to be happy.

Hanabi was not convinced of her fake enthusiasm, but nonetheless obeyed like the good sister that she was. Gently reaching down and grasping Hinata's hand, the younger girl led her sister across the lost garden into the relatively smaller manor. She looked over her shoulder and grinned. "I like the house better this way. The old manor had too many rooms and sub-rooms that it was hard to imagine we were a family," said Hanabi, looking left, then right at the unfamiliar hallways.

Hinata could only smile sadly.

"Look! Neji-nii's house is right across from ours, too! Isn't that wonderful?"

"Captain Yamato said it's the least he could do."

Hanabi's nose wrinkled. "But it's so bare."

That was because they lost everything in the assault. The only things that Hinata had left of her possessions were the clothes on her back. Most of the food and beddings in the house right now was bought from the neighboring villages as ordered by the Daimyo of the Fire Country. "Imagine the time we have to spend on shopping."

Hanabi loved to shop. She was the typical little girl who fancied little trinkets and dresses. One would not have expected it, especially when one would look at her when she sparred. Hanabi excelled in _Taijutsu_.

Hanabi was destined to be the Heir to the Hyuuga clan. Five years Hinata's junior, she showed greater potential with the _Byakugan_ as well as the gentle fist, more than her sister.

Hinata, though the first-born, being relatively weaker in a number of aspects than Hanabi, had taken a different path as a shinobi, and her father had allowed – no, insisted – on it.

But never – _ever_ – did Hinata envy her sister.

Because she loved her.

"When everything quiets down, we most definitely _have _to go shopping together," Hanabi declared as she let go of Hinata's hand and rushed blindly through the nearest door to her left –

– and nearly collided with a masked ANBU who had just stepped inside from the backdoor.

Out of instinct, Hanabi leaped back.

And also out of instinct, Hinata stepped between her sister and the guest.

"Good afternoon to you," Hinata greeted politely, warily planting her feet apart in a fighting stance, her left hand outstretched before her. "May I ask what you are doing in my father's house, uninvited?"

"That's called breaking and entering!" Hanabi growled from behind her.

"Hush, Hanabi. Let me take care of this." The Heir to the Hyuuga Clan needn't bother herself with slinking ANBU.

"Good afternoon," the man said crisply. "I am here to escort you, Hyuuga Hinata, to the Administration Building where your father and the Sixth Hokage are waiting. You don't need to bring anything. This would not take too long…_ if_ you are cooperative. It is but a short briefing of the mission that you and your team will have to undertake. " He then exposed his ninjato with a careful brush of his arm at his white cloak.

Hinata's eyes flickered down at his weapon, feeling utterly dishonored at being threatened in her own home. "I am not aware of being given a mission."

"I'm merely a messenger. If you have any questions, Danzo-sama would be more than willing to answer them. He urgently requests your presence. _Now_."

Hinata felt sweat bead her forehead. While she knew that raising her fists against this man would not only give them a good enough reason to turn her in, but it would also bring her family to shame.

But then, Hyuuga were more loyal to their village than their clan. And hadn't Neji been more than knowledgeable of this fact than anyone?

Hinata lethargically pulled her weight onto the balls of her feet, willing her shoulders to relax as she brought down her arms to her side. "Very well."

"No!" Hanabi blurted out, and she grabbed at Hinata's arm. "Don't go, _Aneki!"_

Hinata smiled a small smile as she tucked a long strand of dark brown hair behind Hanabi's ear. "I'll pick up some radishes on the way home. I'm counting on you to unpack the boxes of provisions. The servants will be back soon. When I get back, I'll help with the beddings they were able to collect from the neighboring village."

Hanabi was pouting. She pouted every time she was being stubborn. And she pouted when she was frightened and trying to hide it. She nodded after a while. "I'll set the table, then."

"That's a good girl." Hinata turned to the ANBU and opened her mouth to speak.

But the man was already gone.

It was clear that they were not taking no for an answer.

She sighed in relief and was about to speak to a somewhat disturbed Hanabi, when Hyuuga Neji suddenly appeared before them, his expression, as always, grim and serious. The only thing that was out of place was his forehead protector; that it being _not _on his forehead. Instead, his long, dark-brown hair was pulled back by a black cloth, covering his seal.

"We leave the village after you answer to your summons from the Hokage," Neji said darkly and threw Hinata an overstuffed backpack, which Hinata instantly dropped on the floor clumsily. "Team Gai and Team Kurenai have already been informed. They will be waiting for us by the training area in half an hour."

Hinata did not even know how to react. Her mind began to swim around as her eyes searched her cousin's face, waiting for the punch line. The grim expression on his always serious face said it all. "This isn't a joke, is it?"

Hanabi bounced from behind Hinata "Where are you going? Will you be back before dinner?" she said, then turned to Neji, grinning toothily. "I have to set the table, Nii-san. Would you like to join us later for dinner?"

Neji's eyes traveled from Hinata to Hanabi. His expression did not change. "Hanabi-sama, I'm afraid we won't be able to make it tonight."

The smile on the young girl's face faltered. "That's too bad," she said reproachfully.

Neji, who was seldom intolerant when it came to capriciousness, gave the young Hyuuga a sad look. "If we do not get out of the village, Hinata-sama will be sent to Kumo as an insurance policy."

A pregnant silence fell between them.

It was Hanabi who broke the tension between them. "Eh… What?" she asked

Hinata let out a nervous giggle. "Surely father would not allow – "

"Your father does not have a choice. Unless he wants to be accused of insubordination," Neji said, cutting her off. "There were two conditions presented to me and your father when the Hokage called for us."

"You were there with father?"

The _Jounin_ nodded. "While there were no hostile movements from Iwa at the moment, Konoha spies were able to detect weird behavior from the Daimyo of Lightning Country. They are planning on sending ambassadors to the Land of Fire as we speak. This is going to be either a declaration of war, or an offer of an alliance."

"And what are the factors that will determine that?"

Neji frowned. "Uzumaki Naruto."

Hinata's heart stopped beating then and there. "Na-Naruto? What does he want w-with N-Naruto?" Curse her stuttering! While she normally did not suffer from it much as of late, there were certain circumstances that made her nervous enough to awaken the childhood speech impediment. Most of those circumstances involved Naruto.

"It's not a surprise for the news about a simple _Genin_ beating a _Rinnegan_-user who happens to be a member of Akatsuki – more so six of them – to spread fast to other Villages, and with the miracle of having every single casualty brought back to life because of an explainable reason Naruto has yet to tell us, Shinobi Villages are starting to feel threatened."

That was probably the most absurd thing Hinata's ever heard.

"Are you talking about the boy that always makes my _Aneki_ blush?" Hanabi piped, grabbing Hinata's arm and tugging at her for attention. "But he's a hero! He can't possibly be a threat to other villages because that would make him a bully, and heroes are _never_ bullies."

Hinata, still reeling about Hanabi's comment about Naruto making her blush, nodded anyway. "N-naruto would n-never…!"

Neji shifted his weight on one foot, obviously impatient. "The Sixth wants me to bring Naruto back to the village as a fail-safe. Now that the balance between the _Bijuu_ have been destroyed, thanks to Akatsuki, the Villages are starting to become restless. And since Kumo and Konoha are the last remaining villages with a Tailed Beast, the Hidden Cloud is starting to get cocky with Naruto missing." With this, he looked away. It was obvious that he was not happy with the situation. His father, after all, had died in Kumo's hands. "If I refuse to bring him back, the only other option was to bribe them…" He gave her a piercing look. "With your eyes, Hinata-sama."

Unwittingly, Hinata's hands flew to her face. "My… _eyes_…?"

"Yes, so I chose to agree with bringing back Naruto, and was given permission to form two three-man cells and launch a search party to bring Naruto back."

Hinata felt herself wavering, and had it not been for Hanabi, who grabbed her arm to support her up, she would have ended up sprawled onto the floor. She tried her best to focus her eyes on her cousin, and she felt her vision blurring out of disbelief. "Y-you agreed t-t-to betray Na-naruto?" she asked faintly, and she felt her breath shortening. This was not the time to hyperventilate! She took a step forward, ignoring Hanabi who was holding onto her tightly, saying something that she could not understand.

Neji's expression stiffened even more. Hinata didn't know it possible. He gave Hinata a look that was somewhere close to anger. Or worse yet, incredulity. "Thousands of Leaf Shinobi have been more than willing to offer their lives than sell Naruto out. What makes you think I'll even consider dragging him back to the village where Danzo will probably use him as some sort of weapon against other Hidden Villages?"

Hinata tried to catch her breath. Hanabi had started rubbing her back slowly, and it was somewhat helping her relax. "But you just said the search party is – "

Neji took a step forward, picked up the backpack Hinata had dropped, and shoved it into Hinata's arms. "By the time Danzo finds out I lied, we would be weeks away from the village, where you will be safe. We could rally with Naruto, or Sakura, or whoever. But at the moment, my priority is to protect you."

Hinata started chewing on her lower lip, forcing herself to hold onto the backpack Neji was so persistent on making her carry. He was asking her to be a rogue. He was asking her to join Team Gai and Team Kurenai to be rogues…

Things were going too fast. She could not believe Danzo was willing to sacrifice a Konoha _Kekkei Genkai _over a _Bijuu_. But she supposed what Neji was saying made sense. Danzo knew how weak the village was right now. And the only way to keep Kumo away was to keep them in the shadow of fear with the use of the _Kyuubi_. And if they did not have a Tailed Beast, they would be forced to appease the Hidden Cloud with a bribe. It was as simple as that.

And Danzo had decided to make a sacrifice of Hinata's eyes…

Hanabi hugged Hinata tightly. "I won't let them take your eyes, Aneki!"

Hinata's gaze fell on top of Hanabi's head, and her heart suddenly felt constricted. "If I go, they might take Hanabi instead…"

Neji shook his head. "Your father had an agreement with the Hokage not to touch Hanabi-sama. She is, after all, the Heir to the clan. Hiashi-sama vowed that if anything happened to Hanabi-sama, and he suspected Danzo to be behind it, the whole clan would break away from Konoha. I don't think that man would be a threat to Hanabi-sama." The _Jounin_ held out his hand at Hinata. "But he will be a threat to you. Kakashi has been captured. He was the only threat Danzo has considered to be against him. No one can protect you if you stay, Hinata-sama."

Hinata swallowed hard as she gazed at her cousin's outstretched hand. Those were the same hands that had almost killed her three years ago. And now those hands were held out, offering to save her life. To protect her. She let her eyes travel to his face. There was something unfamiliar that flickered behind his snowy eyes that Hinata had never seen before.

Dread.

Worry.

_Fear_.

Fear for _her_.

Hinata nodded. "I understand…"

And she felt Hanabi grip her hand tightly.

* * *

It stormed on their first night in the desert, and that was the only thing that forced Sai and Sakura take shelter in a strange rock formation hosting a cave that was big enough to house two people that did not necessarily hate each other, but were not getting along quite well.

_Quite. _

It could have been pure luck that they found the cave just in time before the sun sank behind the tall mountain border in the west. Nights in the desert got too cold for comfort, and sand storms in the Land of Wind could last for days. Sakura wished this one didn't. She was tired. She was hungry. And Sai was annoying her like hell.

"Drink," Sai said after abandoning their rucksack on the floor of the cave, then shoved one of the canteens near her face. He had been kind enough to stick a straw for her, and he was looking at her with that deadpanned expression that seldom left his face ever since they entered the desert. He looked even more annoying with that stupid, _stupid_ floppy hat.

Sakura wanted to pummel him, if only she could use her arms. Not only was she entirely embarrassed of her helplessness, but she had to depend on this boy for survival. Biting back the complaint that threatened to escape her mouth, she took the straw between her teeth and sucked the lukewarm water dejectedly. Her green eyes were sharp on Sai's dark ones. The boy did not seem capable of recognizing hostility, even when it was staring him in the face.

But then again, Sakura didn't even know why she was mad at him. He was, after all, trying his best to be kind to her, even to the point of almost – _almost_ – being sensitive.

To the point of almost – _almost_ – being over-protective.

Sure, Sakura didn't have her arms to her disposal, and yes, she couldn't even eat or drink without him, but still…

_Still…_

"It's your pride," Sai said, giving her one of his out-of-place smiles as he replaced the cap of the canteen after she had had her fill. "You're too proud. I've read in a book once that women are generally proud creatures. But I don't see where you find the luxury to _be_ proud when you can't even scratch your own back."

Sakura's face flushed. Was he going to rub _that _in her face? Sure, she had asked him once – _ONCE!_ – to scratch her back a few hours earlier, but hadn't she thanked him profusely for that?

She would have to think twice before she asked him for favors in the future.

Thinking about the future with Sai in it was freaking her out._ Tch!_

"I am not being proud. I just don't think you need to worry too much about me. It makes me feel useless."

Sai blinked. "But you _are_ useless."

Sakura felt her foot automatically launch itself to Sai's middle. The Root member doubled over, coughing. "I am _not_ useless, you insensitive jerk."

Sai rubbed his stomach gingerly and nodded as he dropped down by their rucksack. "I didn't mean it that way. I just meant that you can't do anything by yourself, with your arms like that."

Sakura raised her knee again threateningly.

Sai backed away in a hurry, in case Sakura's other foot decided to say hello to his midsection as well. "We need to get you to a healer when we reach the Sand. Until then, let me take care of you."

…

He sounded like he cared.

No, actually, he sounded something close to desperate.

Sakura felt a muscle on her cheek twitch and her blush deepened more. She did not like _'being taken cared of'_. She had spent majority of her _Genin_ days hiding behind Naruto and Sasuke's backs. She was done being the damsel in distress.

Even when she couldn't move her arms.

Sitting down on the center of the sand-filled cave, grunting in discomfort as she shifted the scrolls under the blanket Sai used to hold her arms into place, she tilted her head to the side. She watched as Sai took off that floppy hat from his head, making his sweat-matted dark hair stand on end. He didn't seem to notice, and proceeded unpacking several supplies he had gathered back in the last village they had visited for provisions.

"You don't have to, Sai. You don't need to take care of me."

Sai's hand paused at pulling free a sleeping bag from the sack, looked over his shoulder and smoothed down his hair. It stuck right back up. "I can't _not _protectyou."

"Why?"

Sai resumed his tugging of the sleeping bag. "Because it's my mission to keep you alive. And you _will_ stay alive until Tsunade-sama finds you." He looked up when the wind started to pick up outside, and more sand tried to sweep inside the cave.

Sakura followed his gaze and frowned at the swirling sand. Tsunade-sama had picked this boy to be her companion. Did her _Shishou_ run out of options to have settled for such an eccentric fellow? Surely, there were other capable people in the Leaf to trust…?

"I will stay alive with or without you," Sakura said stubbornly as she crossed her legs and sat up straighter, willing to make her expression appear smug.

Sai shifted his gaze from the cave entrance to Sakura's stiff form. Without another word, he rummaged into the rucksack and procured a small bag of dried beef jerky they had bought from a traveling vendor they had come across before entering the desert. He stared at it a few moments before throwing it on Sakura's lap. "Fine. Eat. While you're at it, make a fire, or you might freeze." He tossed her a tinderbox and kicked a few dry branches on the floor towards her. "Don't forget to unroll your sleeping bag. And yes, tomorrow's water rations would need to be refilled once the storm passes. I'll refill mine later after making dinner for myself."

Sakura's eyes widened at the few objects Sai had tossed for her disposal. She looked over at the Root member who had succeeded in untangling his sleeping bag from the rucksack and proceeded smoothing it out at the other end of the cave opposite the entrance. He did this silently and carelessly, like a man who was so used to running away from a Village as a missing nin. Once done with preparing his sleeping space for the night, he sat in the middle of his bedroll, pulled the rucksack to him with one tug, then dug into it for another bag of jerky, which he ripped open with his teeth.

Sakura felt her stomach betray her, growling loudly. She was only grateful for the storm outside that Sai was not able to hear her over the howling winds. She shrugged her shoulders uncomfortably inside the blanket, feeling the scrolls rolling around in her makeshift splint. She looked down at the pack of beef jerky on her lap, then at the tinderbox and wood but a few feet away in front of her.

Sai sunk his teeth into his jerky, ripped at the meat and chewed contentedly. His dark eyes remained covered with his long bangs, and the only thing Sakura could see was his mouth, tight-lipped as he ate.

Sakura pursed her lips together as she looked away from him, sitting pretty on his bedroll, eating as if it wasn't storming outside, as if they weren't on the run, as if Konoha hadn't been destroyed, as if Danzo had not stolen the Hokage's seat.

_As if everything was all right._

Sakura felt the emotion bubble up her throat, the events of the past days started to weigh down on her, and the next thing she grasped was she had begun to shake again. She dropped her chin to her chest, wanting nothing more than to rip the blanket apart and break something – _anything_ – just to release the pent up emotion that was threatening to break free from her chest. She wanted to use her arms to destroy something! She just wanted to crush anything she could get her hands on!

She wanted to cleave the cloth sheathing her upper body… and just wrap her arms around someone, and hope that they would embrace her back…

She sucked in her breath when a sob threatened to escape, and she bowed her head further, pulling her legs to her chest, dropping her head even lower between her knees.

And everything just blurred as her tears started to pool in the corner of her eyes. She didn't care. So what if the most insensitive person was there to see her pour her heart out to a piece of dried meat on her lap? Did it matter?

And that was when she felt him. She did not even hear him when he had approached her, and realized only when he had his arms around her shoulders from behind, embracing her over her bound limbs. The next thing she felt was his cheek against hers as he pressed his lips close to her ear.

"You shouldn't waste body fluids in a desert," he said practically. It was not a surprise to hear him say something that did not offer anyone comfort. Nonetheless she felt her body leaning against his chest as she held the tears in, as well as the mucus that threatened to pour from her nostrils. Sai was right. Crying was a bad way to die in a place that had but little water.

She nodded feebly, and felt Sai withdraw from the embrace only to slip one arm behind her knees, and the other arm supported her upper body as he hoisted her up and carried her to his bedroll. In normal circumstances, she would have protested, but as of this moment she could not find it in her to resist him as he pushed the folds of the sleeping bag with his toe, and sat her on it gently.

Sai squatted in front of her and examined her face with a look that might have resembled that of curiosity. "May I?" he asked as he gestured at her feet.

Sakura felt her cheeks burn as she sniffed and looked away, a bit embarrassed as she held out her feet, which Sai took in his hands and started to unlace her boots.

"Everything's going to be fine. We'll reach the Sand in another couple of days, hide out, and wait. That's all," Sai said silently, his eyes intent on her feet as he pulled at her laces with nimble fingers and then tugged at her footwear, setting it aside near the rucksack, then tucking her feet inside the bedroll. He sighed, paused a bit then said, "Now, eat."

Sakura looked up to find him holding out a piece of that dried meat he had been chewing on earlier. And at that moment, she knew that what Sai had accused her was true; she was, in reality, too proud for her own good. She warily leaned forward, took the jerky between her teeth, and started to chew on the rubbery meat slowly.

Sai tilted his head to the side, watching her with that deadpanned look that came naturally in his eyes. "If I am making you feel useless, I apologize."

Sakura paused in mid-chew, then narrowed her eyes at him. He did not look at all sorry, and the moment she realized she had thought this, she swallowed the food in her mouth, feeling awful. She knew Sai well enough to know that he was not as capable as she was when it came to expressing emotions that would naturally come with normal people. So why was she giving him such a hard time?

"Would you at least allow me to take care of you… at least until we get you fixed and safe in the Sand?" he asked in that dull, deep voice as he pulled the covers over her legs.

It took a while before Sakura was able to let go of her stubborn streak and nod her head slightly. "… All right."

And Sai sighed at her answer. The stiffness around his eyes vanished that very moment, and he nodded back. "I'll make a fire and have the first watch. I'll wake you in two hours. Alright?"

Sakura nibbled at her lower lip as she absentmindedly allowed Sai to lie her down and tuck her in, as if he would a child. It did not take long for sleep to overcome her, what with the monotonous sound of the wind blowing, the scraping of grains of sand against the rocky entrance of the cave, and the sound of Sai fussing over the folds of the sleeping bag before he brushed his fingers on her forehead one final time, then busied himself with gathering the small dead branches and the tinderbox scattered on the floor.

And Sakura slept.

And she had vivid dreams of being trapped in an hour glass with a huge Sai peering down at her like he would a bug. She nearly woke up with a start when Sai's face melted away and was replaced with Danzo bearing down at her menacingly, breaking her arms all over again, ripping her shirt open and then stealing the scrolls from her.

And she tried her hardest not to scream.

* * *

Sai absentmindedly broke a piece of the branch he had in his hand and fed it to the fire mechanically, as he had for the past hour while Sakura slept behind him. It was out of pure luck that there was wood, though scarce, in this cave when they came. The place must be a favorite resting place for desert travelers.

Sai stared at the flames and frowned. He hoped they didn't have to spend another day in there. They still had several pints of water enough to last two days, but it was always better to have allowances. Sakura was starting to weaken emotionally, and it was always very difficult to deal with emotionally unstable females, or so he had read in some book he had borrowed from the Library in the Leaf not a few months ago.

Looking over his shoulder to where Sakura lay but a few feet from him, he could not help but sigh as he watched her long lashes flicker against her dirt-stained cheeks as if she were dreaming. Of what, was a mystery to him, but it did not appear to be a good dream. There were times when she would twitch, then whimper, then fall silent again. Sai didn't dare wake her up, afraid that she would end up getting mad at him again. She always seemed to be angry at him as of late.

He knew that the events of the past days were taking its toll on her, and if he weren't Sai, he would have understood how it felt to lose everything, and the only option you had was to flee.

He threw the remaining piece of wood onto the fire, and sighed once again. Perhaps, if he understood how Sakura really felt, he would have been able to provide the comfort she needed.

He knew she needed it.

He had surprised himself when his body had moved almost by itself, when he felt the desire to suddenly hug her before she started crying. The results had been shockingly rewarding. Sakura had leaned onto him, her back warm against his chest, her stained cheeks soft against his. And she did not protest when he had embraced her. Perhaps he was finally getting the hang of the concept of the human touch, how the mere contact of skin against skin was sometimes worth more than a thousand words to a person who was suffering.

He did not quite understand how such a simple thing could somehow lessen the burden a person was feeling, but at the moment, he didn't care. So long as Sakura remained alive and safe, his mission would be a success.

He frowned at the thought. Ever since he had joined Team Seven, his mission success rate had dropped considerably low, from the very first one he had with them. Who would have expected that the last mission the Fifth Hokage was going to give him concerned having to deal with Sakura's temper?

But then again, there were plenty other reasons for Sai to just ignore Sakura's mood swings. While she had been more than stubborn to refuse every single attempt he had at making her swallow her food and get her to drink water, Sai didn't even know where he found the patience to not just tie her up and force-feed her. She was strong, and very, very hard-headed to listen to what he was saying, but he'd be damned if he failed his mission the Fifth had assigned to him.

"What time is it?" came Sakura's faint voice from behind him.

Sai turned to face her, and was greeted with half-closed, bright-green eyes peeking over the folds of his bedroll. "Early. Go back to sleep"

And as if to spite him, Sakura shook her head. "I don't want to."

He frowned at her. "You need to rest. We leave the moment the storm stops."

Sakura shifted in place. "I had a bad dream," she said, and probably realizing how childish she sounded, her cheeks flushed a bright pink and she tried to hide it by snuggling deeper into the sleeping bag.

Sai watched her patiently, silently, as he had always done when she was being difficult. Sai scratched the back of his neck, turned his back on the fire and faced her, resting his elbows on his knees. "What was it about, your dream?"

It took a while before Sakura answered him. "I dreamed of Danzo… stealing the scrolls away from me."

Sai felt his mouth thinning as he saw Sakura's brow furrow anxiously, and she let her head pop out from under the covers. For some reason, Sai felt like she was not telling him everything, but he knew pressing further on the subject would not do any of them any good. Whatever was inside those scrolls that Sakura so desperately tried to protect, he knew that it was none of his business. "It's just a dream. Danzo isn't here. No one's going to steal the scrolls."

Sakura nodded hesitantly, but she still did not look convinced. With an effort, she turned her back to him. "I know. I'm being silly. I'm sorry."

Sai did not know what he felt at that moment as he watched Sakura's shoulders shake at what appeared to be a silent sob. He felt his hand reach out to touch the fabric that covered what he believed to be her arm, and she flinched, this time not bothering to cover up the shudder that ran through her body, and the loud gasp that escaped her lips.

The tears that she had successfully kept in earlier before turning in had forsaken her, and when Sai leaned over to look at her face, the tears that now fell freely from her closed eyes mixing with the dirt, rolled down her cheeks.

Sai wanted to pull away as an unexpected feeling rippled across his chest, but he discovered he could not. Instead, he found himself bringing his body down next to hers, once again letting his arms circle around her shoulders. She stiffened, then tried to push him away once, but Sai pulled her against him, spooning her, tucking his legs forward, hoisting her knees to align with his.

"Conserve your tears when we get to a place where there's enough water to replace them," he said gruffly, for he was Sai and he was not able to give words close to anything that would be comforting for her to hear.

Nonetheless, she nodded sharply, still sobbing, once in a while letting out a cough before continuing again. And it was the first time Sai honestly did not know what to do. He tightened his embrace, and she yielded into him, if anything choking, crying even more.

"I wish… I could say better things for you, but I always end up saying the wrong things," Sai said silently in her ear. "Perhaps if I were more skilled in using words, I would know the right things to say to make you stop crying, but I don't. I'm sorry."

Sakura shook her head wordlessly, unable to respond to his apology. It didn't matter, Sai thought, that he had no idea what she was trying to say. He held onto her, and she sobbed more.

"Is there anything I can do…? I have no clue… I don't know what else to say…" Sai muttered helplessly, feeling utterly horrible that he had practically declared to her that he would protect her, and here she was, crying, and there was nothing he could do to make her feel better.

"I… I… I j-just want to g-g-g-go home – !" Sakura blurted before breaking down into another fit of sobs.

Sai squeezed her to him closer, deep down wishing he could take whatever sadness she was feeling and throw it into the storm outside. "Soon. I'll take you home soon… I promise."

_Empty words. _

But emotionless people could always lie through their teeth.

Sakura nodded. "Tha-thank you…"

And it made Sai feel a bad, bad feeling of guilt for having lied to her, when she so easily believed in him.

He stroked her shoulder gently. "Now, sleep. We'll be back in Konoha in no time."

And she believed him again.

* * *

**A/N: I don't even know if I should be explaining this, as other people may not agree with how I perceive Sai's character, but I guess for the sake of this fic, I'll try. **

**One of the most annoying things about fanfiction that revolve around Sai, is that they make him sound like a very insensitive bastard regardless of canon. I dislike this completely. Why? Because this destroys Sai's character. Sai is NOT insensitive; he is just inexperienced. **

**But for the sake of this fic – and most probably other SaiSaku fics that I may write in the future – let me explain how I see Sai's character as.**

**There are several SaiSaku fics that insist on making Sai call Sakura **_**ugly**_**, or **_**hag**_** after the Sasuke retrieval attempt. I personally find this irritating. As far as I recall, the very last time Sai actually called Sakura **_**ugly**_** was at his attempt at giving her a nickname. Because of his sincere effort to make bonds, I don't think he's called her "ugly" or "hag" after seeing how negatively Sakura's reacted to it. Sai may be socially inexperienced, but he is not stupid. **

**Another point. I do not believe Sai is "EMOTIONLESS" per se. I think he can actually **_**feel**_**. The only problem he has is that he cannot **_**recognize**_** these emotions and does not know how to react to feelings **_**when**_** he feels them, thus getting misunderstood, and most of the time, decked by Sakura. XD A good example for this is in the Sanbi arc when Naruto introduces Sai to Shino, and Sai gets hurt when Naruto describes him as weird, and cannot read other people, but suddenly feels shy when Naruto praises him for his drawings. His emotional development shows when he gives Yuukimaru water without being asked. In this same episode, Yuukimaru actually pointed out that Sai can "read people" very well, and Sai was a bit uncomfortable when he explains to the kid that other people think of him differently.**

** LOL anyway, this Author's note is getting too long already. I'm really sorry for the rant. **

** Now time to thank those people who reviewed the story so far. Some are familiar names that read my other SaiSaku fic, **_**Old Dogs, New Tricks,**_** while some are new reviewers. Also, there are people who favorited and subscribed to the story, and I am grateful for all of you, too. I hope that in this story, you would stick with me till the end. I'll try to update as consistent as I can. Once in a while, when you ask me questions about the fic, I will reply to you. Other than that, even when I don't reply, know that I read all your reviews because they make me happy, and because I love you all!**

**Once again, thank you!**


	4. The Hidden Sand Village

_**Chapter Four:**_

_**The Hidden Sand Village**_

* * *

After seven and a half days of never-ending constructions, restless nights of hasty _chakra_ regeneration and hassle-filled lunch breaks, Yamato looked down on the newly rebuilt Hidden Leaf Village from the top of the Fourth Hokage's left eyebrow. Not too shabby, if he did say so himself. If he weren't so tired, he would have patted himself on the back. He will have to do it later.

Majority of New Konoha was made of wood and clay, a few dozen rows of civilian residential housing to the west, the trade district to the south (Inari had made sure that Ichiraku would be the biggest building standing in the area), Shinobi estates to the East, and the Memorial of Honors to the North, right below the Hokage Monument, where Yamato now stood. Aside from the Flame Cenotaph, the memorial was nothing more that a leveled piece of land that stretched several hundred meters in the Northern part of the Village. The tombstones made to honor all the shinobi who'd died in the history of Konoha had been obliterated by Pain. Everything but the memories remained.

And New Konoha – under Danzo's strict orders – was build _around_ the Hokage tower, which stood like a tall menacing sentry watching every single move its citizens made.

Seven and a half days…

Four days since Team Seven disappeared with the Fifth.

Three days since Nara Shikamaru was reinstated from Chuunin Moderator to Official Konoha Ambassador, Yamanaka Ino installed into the Torture and Interrogations Unit, and Chouji Akimichi recruited into the Village Defense Unit along with his father.

Two days since Team Kurenai and Team Gai were sent on a retrieval mission for Konoha's _Jinchuuriki_.

Yamato frowned. It was as if Danzo was planning something that involved incapacitating Konoha's youth. With everything going on, he did not understand the logic on Danzo's haste in carving his stoic face next to Tsunade's on the mountain wall. Leaping down from Namikaze Minato's eyebrow, Yamato landed on his haunches. He was always a very serene man. While he found useless bickering and fist-fights an annoyance, he had always believed that people should just _'get along'. _

That's why the strong urge he had to pummel Danzo into a bloody pulp surprised even him. It had always been known among the ANBU and the _Jounin_ of Konoha how Danzo's ideals clashed with how things have been run in the village until lately, but having him change rules within the foundation when the Leaf was barely stable as it is, was just easily defined as pure recklessness. Given, his reputation as an extremist had kept other small invasions from happening, but Yamato wondered how far the man was willing to go.

At the same time he wondered how far the citizens of the Leaf were willing to tolerate.

He looked up onto the mountain, into the still vacant space beside Tsunade's face and shrugged. He did not see the reason in making the tired artisans who have worked day and night to rebuild the Village in just a matter of a week to start etching Danzo's face onto that wall. And if Danzo would make a big deal out of it, then let him stress about it until those people have finally rested. He didn't give a damn.

Right now, the only thing in his mind – more important than reporting to the Sixth about the completion of the restoration, more important than paying the wages of the masons, more important than worrying about Naruto and Sakura and the rest –

He needed to see Kakashi.

Though he had lived his life learning of the greatness that was Hatake Kakashi, the Copy Ninja, there were moments when he had doubted the man's sanity. While Yamato, from a very reliable source that was Nara Shikaku, heard that Kakashi had actually been nominated as an acting Hokage until Tsunade recovered, he did not understand how his _senpai_ had allowed Danzo to pull the rug from beneath the whole Village and managed to throw the only one who could possibly save them all, in jail.

Yamato knew that Kakashi was more than able to hold his own when it came to torture and captivity, but still could not help but worry if Danzo was giving it his all to squeeze every single juicy information about Naruto and Tsunade's whereabouts from the man.

But among all the horrible thoughts that paraded through his mind's eye, he did not think he could have prepared his poor heart at the scene that awaited him in the dark dungeons in the lower levels of the Tower.

Kakashi was… relaxing.

"Yo," Kakashi greeted as he let his dead-fish eyes slide away from the dirty book he was reading to glance at Yamato a second before resuming the task of immersing himself to more porn. The Copy Ninja was sitting on his narrow bunk bed, legs stretched out in front of him, his back propped against the wall. He was still in his _Jounin_ uniform, but his kunai holster was missing, and it seemed every weapon he might have had with him had been found and stripped from his person.

And here Yamato thought Kakashi was being tortured to submission…

If Yamato weren't a bit irritated, he would have wondered how on earth Kakashi had managed to smuggle his book with him. Yamato gritted his teeth. Here was Kakashi, indulging himself in his favorite hobby, while he had been out there for a week trying to rebuild a whole village!

Yamato eyed the man reproachfully. "You could have at least done something to prevent this from happening," he accused.

Kakashi did not look up from his book. "I'm pretty much a peaceful guy. I wouldn't want to get involved in messes I can avoid." He inserted his thumb in the corner of his mask to scratch a spot there. "Or worse yet, I could have end up like _you_, who's been over-worked and underpaid for the last few days."

Yamato fought down a growl and he lowered himself on the filthy dungeon floor, his back to Kakashi. He did not think he could take looking at the man while he marinated in his own juices in that damn cell, reading his obscenities.

"You _are_ aware of the things that are happening while you're in here?" he asked, leaning his head back onto the cold bars of the cell, feeling suddenly tired.

"Aside from the fact that I haven't watered Mr. Ukki for half a week now? No, I'm not aware."

He should just kill him now. It would save everyone the mental torture that their Hokage nominee was so clueless of everything around him, and was in fact more concerned for the welfare of a potted plant. "Team Kakashi, they're gone, as with Team Gai and Team Kurenai. Team Asuma remains, but… " he shook his head, trying his best not to think too deep about it. "Danzo is up to something and those kids – " he nearly jumped when he found Kakashi squatting right behind him from the other side of the cell, his book temporarily put face down on his left knee.

"Listen to me, Tenzou. Naruto and the others are not_ kids_. They are _shinobi_ of Konoha. And although_ 'Konoha'_ is a very fluid concept right now, I'm asking for you to have a little bit of faith in them." Kakashi sat on the floor with his back by Yamato's. "Tsunade-sama had enough faith in them to actually leave the village with only Naruto to depend on, even at the risk of having her name defaced in her absence."

Yamato looked over his shoulder at the silver-haired man. He could only see the side of his face, and although he was totally unaware of Kakashi's expression, for some reason Yamato believed he was not the least bit worried, and could indeed be smiling from behind his mask. "And why would the Fifth's name be defaced, I wonder?"

It took a while before Kakashi replied, and Yamato could hear him flipping through his book swiftly. "Think about it, Yamato. Bringing a weakened Tsunade back would merit Danzo _zero_. And even if it happened that she would, then Danzo would have done everything in his power to find her and drag her back here. But instead, he's asking you to slap his face on the Hokage Monument before anything else. What does that imply?"

"I have no idea, but he's sent two of our _Chuunin_ teams to search for Tsunade," Yamato pointed out.

"He's sent two of our _Chuunin_ teams to search for _Naruto_," Kakashi corrected, stopping the page-flipping and he in turn looked over his shoulder to meet Yamato's side-long glance. "It wouldn't take long for Danzo to start rumors of the Great Fifth Hokage leaving the village in ruin because she wanted to save face… and the citizens would believe him. People buried too far in their own grief would believe _anything_, especially if it meant finding someone to blame. Tsunade means nothing to Danzo, and if anything, he could possibly have found a window of opportunity to turn the citizens against her, if in any case she decided to return for reclamation." He sighed in… was that frustration? "Besides, Danzo doesn't need Tsunade anymore, because what he needs is in someone else's hands…"

Although Yamato had not spent much time with Team Seven, a part of him was still quite concerned with their welfare. And with the way Kakashi was talking, everything was starting to fall into place in his understanding. His eyes widened. "You can't possibly…"

_Oh, dear…_

Kakashi nodded. "Two teams sent out to look. That could only mean one thing."

Yamato swallowed. Suddenly, he didn't feel too good. "There are two targets." And that could only mean…

Kakashi laughed good-naturedly. "Don't sound too scared. We're talking about Team Eight and Team Nine."

Yamato was still not convinced.

Kakashi shrugged, got up on his feet with a grunt, then made his way back onto his bunk. "You can just look at their teachers, and you'd know their personalities down to the tee."

This got Yamato even more confused. As far as he was concerned, those teams' sensei were an over-eccentric man dressed in a green bodysuit, and a pregnant former _Jounin_. He did not see the threat in that.

And as if on cue, a patter of footsteps and a blur of green flashed past Yamato, and Maito Gai materialized inside Kakashi's cell, making the Copy Ninja groan in despair. How he ever got in there was a mystery to Yamato. It appeared to be a mystery to the masked Root Agent that walked in a few seconds after him.

"How'd you get in there?" the Root agent demanded, a bit taken aback, and he looked down at the keys in his hands, did a double-take at the heavy padlock that was obviously still locked on the cell door.

Maito Gai flashed the Root agent with his winning smile and his trademark thumbs-up sign with one hand as he grabbed Kakashi around the shoulder with the other in a half-hug. Kakashi appeared to have wilted. "In the spirit of rivalry between friends, if I could spend even a second sooner inside this cell, I would. And I would be able to do it without food or water longer than Kakashi could!"

The Root agent stared at the energetic guy for a full minute before evidently snapping out of his reverie. "We did not put you in here to starve you. You are here for suspected Treason, but we will need healthy _Jounin_ in case anything unexpected happens. You will be released according to the Hokage's judgment."

By this time, Gai was already engrossed in Kakashi and was ignoring the man completely.

Yamato dropped his head on his open palm. This was what Kakashi was bragging about, Team Nine's teacher?

The Root agent, now feeling slightly disgruntled, turned to Yamato and said, "The Hokage needs you in his office."

Yamato stared at the man from between his fingers. "I was on my way there, actually."

"Very well." The man turned to Gai and Kakashi who were having a small quarrel on who would take the more comfortable-looking bunk bed. "I hope that there wouldn't be any more of you coming in today," he said before leaving.

Yamato raised his head, surprised. He turned to Kakashi. "Wait. What did that man mean by _'any more of you'_?"

Kakashi, who had just won taking the softer bunk bed from Gai, jerked his thumb towards the deeper parts of the dungeon. "Iruka, Ebisu and Anko are down a few cells away."

Yamato groaned inwardly. This was just great. Konoha was taking a hundred-eighty degree change, and already, those loyal to Tsunade were being plucked like feathers.

Kakashi seemed to have caught up on his worry, and, ignoring Gai who had suddenly catapulted towards him and knocked him down onto the floor, he gave Yamato a weak wave of his hand that held the book. "Everything will be fine. Just don't get into trouble with the Foundation and stay out of prison. It's getting too crowded in here."

Yamato sucked in a breath before releasing it long and slow. It may not seem like it, but he was almost sure that his _senpai_ was planning something. _Something_. He just hoped he would let him on it soon, because although he was not in jail, the whole village actually felt like a very huge prison as it was.

"And Tenzou?"

"Eh?"

"My apartment's spare key is right under the welcome mat. Water Mr. Ukki for me, will you? Before you have your little chat with Danzo? I'm sure Danzo would understand the needs of a dying plant over his desire to get his face carved out of that mountain, right?"

Yamato's eye twitched.

"… Of course…"

* * *

While Sai had been used to living underground in a relatively cool, damp place in Konoha, he had heard of the Land of the Wind and the harshness of its desert dunes, of the stand storms, of the scarcity of water, and the very unfriendly wildlife. He had wondered more than once when he was young how it could be possible for civilization to thrive in such a harsh place.

He did not expect to have every single thing he had read in that book to be proven wrong in just three days in the desert. The land of Wind, aside from the admitted dryness, was beautiful in his eyes. He could imagine the desert at night time, and how beautiful the stars could possibly be in that far horizon.

He sat on one of the parapets outside the upper level of the hospital in the Hidden Village of the Sand, looking out onto the roofs of the dome-shaped buildings below them, resembling that of tiny little hills so close together that Sai was almost positive that the whole population would die if there was a fire because they wouldn't be able to evacuate fast enough from between those alleys. He nearly smiled his fake smile at his morbidity. And to think he had just thought of romantic night skies and stars and horizons.

They had arrived in the Sand an hour past noon, and he had been waiting for over two hours since they arrived and were escorted by the Sand shinobi who were at the pass that led to the entrance of the village. Much to his surprise, they had fussed over Sakura as if she were some war hero back from the battlefield. Sai didn't even know what had happened until they hoisted Sakura up and spirited her away to what he soon found out to be the hospital located in one of the higher parts of the village. Waiting was never his problem; reconnaissance missions which he specialized in required a lot of patience and dallying, and today was no different. The view from the parapet was enough to keep his inspiration well fueled, but the nagging sensation that he was not all familiar with was keeping him from taking out a brush and a scroll, and paint away the minutes he had to spend while waiting for Sakura's arms to be tended. He was worried, and although this feeling was not really new to him, he was a bit surprised to experience the sensation of having your gut squeezed by invisible hands, leaving you in pins and needles. He knew this was what people would call anxiety.

He decided he did not like being anxious.

He sighed as his eyes scanned beyond the village border, towards the dunes that kept on changing as the wind blew from the north. Unconsciously, he dug a finger into his ear in an attempt to exhume a bit of sand that had the nerve to sneak in there. He looked down at his toeless boots. There was sand under his nails. And in the soles of his feet. It was starting to get really uncomfortable, mixing with his sweat. He wrinkled his nose. He wanted a bath. No, actually he _needed _one. The idea of a bath once again triggered a train of thought in his head. How did people living in the desert take baths when water was a scarcity?

It was then did he sense another presence approaching from the stairwell that led down to the Physical and Occupational Therapy level of the hospital. Tearing his gaze away from the expanse of nothingness and looking over his shoulder, he saw a tall boy he assumed to be a few years older than him garbed in black, a bulky hood with what could be easily mistaken as cat ears was thrown over his head, exposing a face that was painted with distinct purple markings, making what could have been a kind face look close to menacing.

Sai stood up and faced the boy, pulling off the hat sitting on his head. "Good afternoon," he said, thinking it proper to start with a greeting.

The boy eyed him up and down, curiously letting those dark eyes linger on his face with familiarity before extending a hand out to him. "My name is Kankurou, older brother to the Fifth Kazekage. We haven't met before, have we?"

Sai eyed his extended hand cautiously before taking it and giving it a slight shake. "I don't think we have. They call me Sai. It's a pleasure to meet you." He let his hand fall away from his after a moment, and the two ended up warily staring each other down. If this was what hostility meant, Sai did not know how he should react when a perfect stranger started looking at him weird. "Is there anything wrong?"

The boy continued to stare, then shook his head. "You remind me of someone I've met before in Konoha."

Sai tilted his head to the right. "You must mean Uchiha Sasuke." When Danzo had first reinstated him on the surface as a spy, the girls of the village had mentioned it to him more than once that he resembled the rogue nin, Sasuke. And hadn't Sakura pointed that out to him as well?

Kankurou's expression darkened at the name, then shook it away as if it were an annoyance. "Uchiha. Yeah, him. Forget I said anything." He gestured at Sai off-handedly. "I never saw you in the _Chuunin_ exams three years ago."

"That's because I never got involved in the _Chuunin_ exams three years ago. I became a _Chuunin_ when I was ten."

There was something that flashed behind Kankurou's eyes and it was gone a second later. Then, as if out of childish pride, he jerked his thumb to his chest and said, "I'm a _Jounin_."

Sai blinked. "Oh." He knew of this thing called pride. It made the greatest of shinobi act like complete fools.

Kankurou began to scratch at the back of his head, as if flustered. He cleared his throat, threw his shoulders back. "She's done."

"Sakura? That's great. I'm thankful." Sai gave a start, moved as if to run down the stairwell, stopped. If he went to Sakura, that would mean he would have to leave this Kankurou fellow alone in the parapet. And that would be rude. He didn't want to be rude.

Kankurou resorted to staring him up and down again. "Forgive my bluntness, but who are you?"

Sai frowned. "I already told you my name's – "

"What brings you to Suna, accompanying Haruno Sakura with both her arms broken by what seemed to be by human force?" The boy most definitely did not look as if he was accusing him of anything, but there was an edge in his voice that Sai believed had something to do with Sakura's predicament. But then again, anyone who cared would have been disturbed if they saw what had happened to the kunoichi. "Haruno Sakura is considered to be a hero here in Suna, if you don't already know. She and Naruto are the only Leaf shinobi who had been acknowledged by Elder Chiyo before she died. And as a personal favor, I owe her my life. If anything were to happen to her…" That was when he started scowling at him.

Scowling really bad.

Sai could only assume that the Sand was already suspecting something had gone wrong with Konoha. It was the only reason for this person to suddenly ask such questions, especially now that he was starting to get really anxious with Sakura's wellbeing. But with the way Kankurou was talking, it was obvious that even if Danzo had contacted the Kazekage, he had not caught up on Sakura's plan to take refuge in the Sand.

"We were running away," Sai said simply.

This made Kankurou's eyes nearly bulge from their sockets. "You didn't… _elope_, did you?"

Sai cocked his head to the side. Whatever this boy was talking about, it was beyond his understanding. "If we hadn't escaped, she would have died."

"I'm afraid he could be telling the truth."

It was then did a blond girl clad in a dark kimono, her hair tied back in four distinct ponytails behind her head, stepped onto the small space of the parapet carrying a single piece of paper in her hands. Those liquid aqua eyes looked over at him with a certain tired look that reminded Sai of Shikamaru. "Finally after a week and a half, my correspondence in Konoha decided to reply. Why this message came on a close to dying messenger pigeon, I have no idea. And why the hell it took over a week to get here is beyond me, but it seems like there has been big changes happening in the Leaf that they decided to keep from us until now." She wriggled the piece of paper towards Sai. "You. I don't know who you are, but do you mind explaining this to me why our only Allied Village suddenly decides to change their Hokage without informing the Sand beforehand?"

Sai looked down at the letter. On the bottom right of the paper was the Nara family crest, resembling that of a circle cut diagonally with a straight line. On the other side was the clear, red seal of Shimura Danzo at the bottom left of the paper, right beside it the official _shachihata _of the Hokage. A letter from Shikamaru announcing the Sixth Hokage's rise, approved by the Hokage himself… and then some. So Danzo was already on the move… "Wouldn't it be better if we pay our respects to the Kazekage before anything else?"

An excuse.

A good excuse.

He unwittingly swallowed hard, remembering the cursed seal on his tongue. He will have to leave all the explaining to Sakura later.

The blonde looked uncomfortable as she gave Kankurou a sidelong glance.

Kankurou nodded grudgingly, though it seemed that he too looked quite surprised at the news that Tsunade was no longer in power. "It wouldn't be proper if we don't bring them to Gaara first, Temari. You should escort Sakura to the holding room and have this talk in front of Gaara."

The woman – Temari – nodded sharply, crumpling the letter in her hand. "There was a scroll that came for him from the Sixth Hokage himself. This – " she shook the crumpled ball in her hand as if it had just said something indecent to her. " – _this_ came along with it. It's from the Nara…" And at the mention of the name, she cursed under her breath, stuffed the letter into her kimono sleeve and stormed away, evidently unhappy.

Kankurou could only look after her before turning to Sai again with that suspicious look. "What on earth is going on? First, you guys turn up unannounced with Sakura in the worst for wear, and then this comes along."

Sai only shrugged. It was the only thing he could do without activating Danzo's seal. "Things happened. Sakura will be able to tell you in detail in front of the Kazekage when she's ready. Can you take me to her?"

Kankurou narrowed his eyes at him.

Sai flashed him what could be his best smile. "Please?"

He blanched, shuddered, then made his way down the stairwell. "Follow me."

He knew that there were a few things he was missing in the picture, but being Sai, he didn't even know where to begin to recognize what those things were. And maybe because he was Sai did he actually not care.

Following Kankurou through the narrow stairs leading down to the hospital, he jammed the floppy hat back on his head, feeling the anxiety seeping out of him at the knowledge that Sakura was well and good.

Kankurou seemed to have decided to ignore Sai as he led the way through the twisting corridors that reminded Sai of underground ant colonies where the walls appeared to have been made out of hardened sand.

Sai wondered not for the first time if the citizens of Suna made use of sand on _anything_ they could possibly apply it to. He watched in the corner of his eye as several light-haired women in grey robes carry on their shoulders heavy-looking pots that contained something that smelled suspiciously of vinegar. The youngest of the women noticed they were being watched, and blushed furiously when her eyes met Sai's from under his hat. She hurriedly looked away as the group turned in the next corner.

"The women of Wind Country are very aloof. It would do you a lot of good not to stare too much at them, even if you think they're pretty," Kankurou suddenly said, not looking back at him as he hastened his steps.

Sai hurried to catch up. "What were they carrying just now?"

"Pickled plum."

"I didn't know you could raise plum in the desert."

"You can't. Most of the fruit distributed in the Land of Wind, we get from trade with Grass Country, but we seldom eat them fresh. We either dry or pickle our fruits and vegetables because it's easier to store them that way."

Sai looked over his shoulder where the women had disappeared to. "And where are they taking the plum?"

"To the wagons in the stable yard. All trade has to pass through customs inspection in the Kazekage tower before distributed to other desert colonies in exchange for water and fleece."

Sai frowned. "Aren't we in the hospital?"

Kankurou gave him a sour look before once again turning sharply in a corner. "Although you got here via the hospital main entrance, all the main offices and facilities are connected to the Kazekage tower via tunnels or underground passages like this one. It saves time and energy as compared to having to go out in that sun." He sniffed noisily. "Sakura is on her way to the northern holding room for an audience with Gaara. We should hurry."

Sai had heard a lot about the young Kazekage and the_ 'bond' _he had created with Naruto. While he had caught most of his information from second-hand sources and never really got the chance to ask Naruto about it personally, he knew that Gaara had found a friend in the Kyuubi's _Jinchuuriki_ after having been saved by him to the extent of being brought back to life with his chakra through a medium he had heard Sakura mention once as an old lady named Chiyo.

Although he hadn't met this Gaara before, he had no worries that he would be able to provide the help Sakura needed, if not for his kindness, then at least for his debt on Naruto.

"I would have assumed he would be too busy – "

"Gaara is never _'too busy'_ for the Leaf," Kankurou interrupted him. "Never too busy for Naruto and his comrades."

Sai let the hostility slide. "Yes, of course."

The narrow corridor soon opened up into a wide, sunlit circular dome, its arches made of stone, clay and… more sand. Tiny triangular windows dotted the walls where countless messenger pigeons flew in and out in a flurry of white and grey feathers.

Sai had to stop in his tracks to take in the sight unfolding in front of him. Men and women alike, their hair color ranging from white-blonde to dark blood-red, all of whom were sporting the distinct Suna flak jacket and hitai-ate, bustled through the huge circular room in groups of threes or fours. Teams ready to take on missions, all waiting for the Kazekage's approval.

Gaara was willing to let all these people wait. All because of their sudden arrival.

"The holding room is over there behind that door. You want to see Gaara, or do you plan on standing there all day and watch these people put a hold on their lives just because you people of the Leaf came?" Kankurou asked from a few feet away from him. The man had his arms crossed over his broad chest, his foot tapping impatiently.

Sai gave a start, then nodded and followed Kankurou again, this time through the crowd of Sand nin. Though some people on the wind country have dark hair, almost none of them had pale skin. Perhaps it was for this reason that everyone seemed to have taken into glancing at Sai as he passed, some of the younger ones, most likely _Genin,_ even pointed out openly at him while sharing hushed whispers with their comrades.

Sai poked Kankurou on the shoulder. "Hey."

Kankurou jumped, startled that Sai had touched him. "What?" he asked irritably.

"Do your people always stare at foreigners like this?"

Kankurou snorted again. "When ninja from another country come to visit, it's proper they send word at least two days ahead before they arrive. Otherwise, it would mean you think of yourself too important that everyone in the Sand could cancel their usual daily routine just to accommodate your whims. Showing up without warning is considered rude."

Sai mulled this over in his head, then nodded. "I'll remember that. Though I promise you today wasn't ill-meant."

Kankurou shrugged as he stopped in front of an ordinary-looking door with brass handles. "It's because of Sakura that we have even indulged this. Normally, we wouldn't have allowed you to enter the gates unless you were lost travelers, or bleeding to death."

"I didn't know you were that strict with visitors."

"It's easier to keep track of the inflow and outflow of people that way. No one gets in without a valid reason. There are times when no one gets _out_ without one." Kankurou made a face. "We've had more than bad experiences with spies."

Sai smiled. "I excel as a spy."

Kankurou narrowed his eyes at him. "No wonder I don't like you too much." He pushed the door open and jerked his head towards the room. "Now get in."

* * *

Sakura looked down at her right hand almost unseeingly as she flexed her fingers inside the leather supporter the medic had provided for her. Her left arm was once again put back in a cast, which was by far more comfortable than the makeshift one Sai had made for her. The young medic who treated her had said that her right arm could do without one, though she did not have to say not to force it too much. Three to four days with the supporter and cast and she should be fine, so long as she took her time healing it on her own, lest the ligaments started to harden, and her flexibility would be at risk. She hadn't really listened to her explanation. She was too busy stuffing the two scrolls Tsunade-sama had given her into her shirt. She didn't even care if it made her uncomfortable having them poking at her ribs. She just felt that those scrolls should never be separated from her at all costs.

The medic had treated her with respect she hardly even deserved, and had almost squealed in delight when Sakura had smiled at her in gratitude. Temari had appeared then, and after checking if everything was fine, had led her to a series of long, winding hallways into a bare room with a table long enough to seat twelve people. It looked like a meeting room of sorts. They had come from the back door. Another door was located adjacent to it, where she could hear loud bustling, as if a lot of people were milling outside it

Temari had said before settling herself on one of the uncomfortable looking chairs around the table, "Have a seat. Gaara is just wrapping up a meeting and will be here shortly. Kankurou is also on his way to bring your companion soon."

Sakura nodded and pulled herself a chair as she uncharacteristically flushed at the memory of Sai. Ever since the night in the cave as they waited out the storm, she did not know how she should react without feeling stupid in front of him. And that was because he had practically lulled her to sleep that night as she cried. She had bawled her eyes out like a spoiled child, demanding that she just wanted to _go home_. And all the while Sai had stroked her hair, promising her everything was going to be all right and that he would take her home soon.

And then the next morning she discovered that though he hadn't fallen asleep, he had spent the rest of his watch lying beside her, that he had had one of his arms around her waist, the other arm was wedged under her head as a pillow.

At first she thought she was dreaming. The moment she had opened her eyes, she saw him looking at her drowsily, eyes unfocused of sleep. They had stared at each other for several long moments before the reality kicked in and Sakura scrambled out of the bedroll like a snake had just slithered into it.

Sai had merely stretched his arms over his head, then sat up saying, "Good morning," as if they had not just spent a stormy night in each others' arms. And as always the practical shinobi that he was, he wasted no time rolling up the sleeping bag, stuffing everything they had pulled out of the rucksack and scanning the entrance to declare to her that the storm had passed and that they should get going. As expected, they had spent the remainder of the travel not talking.

Sakura looked up when the door of the holding room opened and Kankurou and Sai walked in.

Sakura didn't even realize she had bolted back up on her feet at the sight of the two entering. Kankurou, with his face paint and the scowl, made him look even more menacing than she could remember. Sai, on the other hand, was grinning his annoying grin.

Temari rested her elbows on the table, then leaned her chin onto her palms. "Are they getting restless?" she asked Kankurou.

Kankurou shrugged off the dark hood he had over his head, revealing a mop of hair that did not resemble anything of the light shade of that of his siblings. "They were too busy looking at this guy here. Damn _Genin_ looked like it's the first time they've seen white skin."

Sai raised his eyebrows, completely oblivious.

Temari smirked. "To some of them, this _could _be their first time." She pointed at Sai with a straight, slender finger. "You look like Uchiha Sasuke."

Sakura winced. Hadn't she thought the same thing when she had first met Sai?

Sai tilted his head to the side before pulling off his hat and stuffing it inside his pocket. "I've been told." He did not bother to elaborate. He didn't bother to sit down either. Looking quite content as he took his place in the far corner of the room, he leaned his back against the wall and plastered his eyes on the floor. He made it clear he did not want to be talked to.

Sakura frowned at his behavior. While Sai had shown great enthusiasm in talking, as well as expressing a bit of desperation to be included in conversations, it was quite rare to have him openly close himself out of a budding dialogue. She dropped back down on her seat, averting her eyes from the Root member and took to staring at her fingernails.

That was when the back door of the holding room suddenly burst open in a frenzy of spiraling sand and wind. Gaara appeared behind Temari when the tiny cyclones stopped spinning. The Kazekage did not look too happy.

Sakura's wide eyes scanned Gaara up and down. He was in his Kage robes, his flaming red hair messy beyond fixing, as if he had been pulling at it all day. Although it hadn't been over a few months since she last saw him, there was something – a stiffness – around the Kazekage that she had not seen before. Be it the effects of the extraction of the One-Tailed Beast, or the stress of being back in power over a struggling Village, Sakura did not know. But the way Gaara was clutching a message scroll in his left hand was enough to tell Sakura that the Kage had been informed of the changes in Konoha. Sakura could get a glimpse of Danzo's red seal on the outer portion of the rolled up piece of parchment.

"Where is Uzumaki Naruto?" Gaara drawled impatiently, almost to the point of worry, as he threw the scroll onto the table carelessly, as if matters about Naruto's whereabouts mattered more than what Danzo had to say in his message.

Sakura shook her head. "We don't know. All we know is that he's taken my master with him."

Sai looked up briefly. "Kakashi-_senpai_ was with them before they disappeared from the quarters they were holding Tsunade-sama. But aside from that, there's nothing else I know." And he lowered his head once more.

Gaara silently glared at Sai. "Who… are you?"

"Sakura's… bodyguard. Assigned by Tsunade-sama to escort her away from the Leaf."

This revelation made Gaara even more curious about him. Those glassy aqua eyes – so much like his older sister's, framed with dark circles – narrowed at the Root member. "And what… connection do you have with her?" he asked as he gestured at Sakura as if she weren't there.

Temari and Kankurou watched in silent curiosity, and Sakura sighed.

"He is the newest member of Team Kakashi, Gaara."

Gaara's gaze shifted from Sai to Sakura at the mention of his name. Perhaps it was the familiarity she said it. Sakura didn't know if she had offended him, but the slight spark behind his eyes assured her that it did not. "Uchiha Sasuke's… _replacement_."

Sai twitched.

Sakura shrugged uncomfortably. "More or less, yes."

The three Sand Siblings peered at Sai as if he had three heads. Kankurou looked especially chafed.

Sakura cleared her throat and used her right hand to scratch the side of her neck uncomfortably. "I'm sure you've received word of what has happened to Konoha."

Gaara snapped back into reality and nodded gravely. "Akatsuki. Pain," he said simply. "They were after Naruto."

"Yes. But Naruto won."

Gaara's liquid eyes blurred into those dark circles as he closed them, tired. "At what price?"

Sakura opened her mouth to speak, but discovered she could not find a good answer to his question. She bowed her head. At what price? At what _freaking_ price? Naruto was a missing nin. Sakura and Sai were missing nin. Tsunade had lost the Hokage seat, and Danzo finally got what he's always wanted.

For a moment, she had almost forgotten why they even bothered to come to Suna. Just remembering what they had left behind made looking forward so very hard to do. The scrolls inside her shirt suddenly seemed so very, very heavy.

"We need a place to hide for a long period of time," Sai said from his corner of the room.

Sakura raised her head just in time to see Gaara and Kankurou give a start.

Temari was leaning forward on the table, an unreadable expression on her haughty face. "_Why?_"

Sakura swallowed hard. She had spent some time with Temari before, and although she knew the older girl did not have much in common with her, she had always been a peace-lover.

Which could only mean one thing.

"You already know we've turned rogue, don't you?" Sakura asked them.

Temari's reaction didn't change, but her shoulders sagged a bit, as if unsure of what to do next. "The letter I received from Nara Shikamaru has informed me of the situation happening in New Konoha. Would you want to know what's happening back home?"

"Enough with the games, Temari," Gaara said gruffly. "Tell them what they need to know." He turned his back on them, exposing the sand gourde that was almost always presently strapped on his shoulders.

Temari had the decency to blush, and she gestured with her hands towards Sakura and Sai. "Uzumaki Naruto busted the Fifth Hokage out of the chambers that same night a few minutes before you made your escape. Hatake Kakashi has been arrested for outside help provision, along with a number of _Jounin_. Two _Chuunin_ teams were dispatched two days after you left to search for Naruto and yourself. His explanation was brief, but he… " Her voice fathered a bit. "… Shikamaru mentioned that either you or Naruto could be seeking refuge here, and that we should be prepared. For what, he didn't say."

Kankurou collapsed into a chair at the news that right in front of them were two missing nin from the Leaf. The middle brother's face betrayed him as he gazed at Sakura. Sakura knew what he was thinking, but she could not blame him for being confused, even when he was torn between his obligation as a friend, and his obligation to the alliance between Konoha and Suna. She didn't have the words to comfort him. Because everything Temari said was true.

No one in their right mind would willingly take in a missing nin. Let alone two.

Gaara, whose back was still turned to them, shuddered a little, and the gourd on his back started to leak a small trail of sand onto the floor. "The Sixth Hokage has informed me that you have… stolen… two precious scrolls that belong to him."

And perhaps that was the last straw for Sakura. Danzo may have taken the Hokage Title from Tsunade, and if she weren't so biased she would have agreed with Shizune that Danzo was what a weakened Konoha needed at the moment.

He may have arrested her friends, declared her Team rogue nin, and informed their only ally that they could be seeking refuge in their Hidden Village, and she would not force them to think what they have to think otherwise.

But there was no way – _no way at all _– she was going to let that bastard claim these scrolls as his.

Because these scrolls were _Tsunade's_. And she had entrusted these to Sakura.

Sakura shook her head, too tired to even get mad. She should have believed Sai when he'd said that Suna would not take them in. Getting to her feet, she fished a kunai she had stuck between her leg and her boot, and turned to face the three siblings. "Fine. Do we have to fight our way out of your village? Because I don't plan to be turned in as a missing nin, and I don't see myself returning to the village in chains."

Sai did not move from his place in the corner except to crouch down to scratch a spot somewhere behind his knee.

While Kankurou looked like he was about to reach for one of the scrolls he had strapped to his back, and Temari had cautiously risen to her feet, Gaara turned to face her calmly. The hard expression he had on his face looked like it was frozen in place, and his arms were still crossed in front of him.

"We cannot shelter missing nin in Suna," the Kazekage said in his dull monotone, flecks of sand breaking away from one side of his face, only to be replaced with more sand coming from nowhere, regenerating on the spot. Sakura wondered if he was having an internal struggle with himself. "Though you are important people to Uzumaki Naruto, _my_ loyalty is not in question here. Suna has bonds with Konoha that surpass our friendship. I cannot break the alliance for the sake of a rogue because she is a friend of a friend."

Sakura gritted her teeth, angry. "Doesn't that friendship mean anything to you anymore?" she accused.

Gaara's eyes flashed menacingly. "When Elder Chiyo died, she has entrusted to me and to Naruto the future of Konoha and Suna. _Naruto will not be running forever. _And while he is away, it is my job to keep the relationship between the Leaf and the Sand alive – even if it means having to deal with this… Danzo – until Naruto comes back. And until he becomes Hokage. Do not question my loyalty to Uzumaki Naruto again."

And so it boils down to that… Sakura gripped the kunai tighter in her one useful hand. She knew that having it on the ready would mean little sense, what with over fifty Suna shinobi teams parading right outside the door, but still… "We could leave right now. If you would let us go."

Gaara's tight lips turned down into a small frown. He looked like he was simultaneously annoyed and frustrated. It was a weird mix. The gourde behind his back stopped moving. After a moment of hesitating, he said, "Though we cannot have you here, I can make arrangements to have you brought into the deepest western desert colony in the Land of Wind." His gaze flickered from Sakura's kunai, to Sai who was still intent on scratching his leg. "If you wish for a place to hide, I assure you that hiding place will not be within my walls. But anything that happens within the Country of Wind is no longer under my judgment, unless our services were required."

Sakura blinked, almost unsure if she heard right. Was Gaara… _offering aid? _Was he actually telling her that he would be sending them to a place where they could hide? She felt her hold on the kunai relax. She saw in the corner that Sai had once again pulled down the floppy hat over his head and he crouched on his haunches, busying himself with their rucksack. He looked like a street beggar.

"You'll help us?" Sakura asked uncertainly.

"No, not _help_ you. If we help you, that will get us involved." Gaara stared down at the table, his eyes scanning the scroll mechanically. "You will _happen_ to smuggle yourselves in one of the wagons that will travel farther west to a desert colony called Gifu. You will _happen_ to have found out that they are in need of a medicine woman there." Gaara shifted uneasily, casting a short glance at Temari, who was now smiling a small smile.

Temari nodded. "Of course. You will _happen_ to have made it just in time to hide inside the next shipment of plum to Gifu. It is a very remote colony built around a source of fresh water. You may find it hard to fit in, though."

Sakura didn't even realize she was biting her lip anxiously. It didn't matter if they didn't fit in. So long as they would be able to hide. To stay alive. To keep the scrolls safe. Tsunade's scrolls. Not Danzo's. _Tsunade's._ "Are they a difficult people?"

Kankurou shrugged uncomfortably when Temari gave him a glance as if saying, _'you explain next.'_ "It's a non-shinobi village. Purely civilian, raising camel and wattle seed, but because they're located in the very far south-west, their culture is… _different_… far different from that of your own."

Sai had paused from fiddling with the rucksack and looked up at them. "Will they let us live there?"

"They are very hospitable, and they are in dire need of a healer," Temari said.

Gaara reached out with his left hand to clutch the scroll Danzo had sent to him, rolled it slowly and slipped it inside one of his billowy sleeves. "Kankurou, hurry to the gates and retrieve the trafficking report from past noon till this hour." He touched his forefinger and thumb on the bridge of his nose. "No one from the Leaf has come through the gates that was within our knowledge. Understand?"

Kankurou grinned and made his way to the door. "Loud and clear, little bro." And he left.

Gaara then turned to Temari. "When do the wagons leave?"

Temari was up on her feet as well. "An hour before sunset, when the desert starts to cool."

Gaara lowered his head. "Excellent." He turned to Sakura. "You have some time before the departure. Gather whatever supplies you need, discreetly, if you may, and ask Temari what you have to know about Gifu."

Temari did a double-take. "W-what? Wait! I have to teach them Gifu culture?"

Gaara eyed her, almost guiltily. "You've been there several times for trade."

"Yes, and they nearly stoned me to death _twice_ for showing them the palm of my hand!"

That was what finally got a reaction out of Sai. "Are they… savages?" he asked in awe as he got to his feet, flinging the rucksack over his shoulder.

"Don't be stupid. They are very well civilized people. They're just… _different_." Temari averted her eyes from them as she rubbed the side of her neck uncomfortably.

Gaara cleared his throat. "Another thing."

Sakura, who was in the process of slipping her kunai back into her boot, looked up when she realized Gaara was referring to her. "Eh?"

"Your hair… stands out…"

Sakura fingered the strands of pink hair brushing her shoulders. Well, of course the mystery of her hair was left to be discovered, but she didn't think anyone was going to hold it against her. "Do you want me to shave it?" she asked dryly.

"Are you willing to?" Gaara asked back.

"No."

"I thought so…" Gaara said, a bit disappointed. He gestured once again to Temari. "I leave it to you."

Temari looked a bit doubtful, but nodded anyway. "I'll try my best. But we only have a few hours. We should hurry." She gestured for Sakura and Sai to follow her.

Gaara nodded. "And Temari?"

The blonde looked over her shoulder to her younger brother. "What is it?"

"I am off to call for the scribe to answer this scroll from the Sixth Hokage. I am planning to send it off tomorrow morning. Will you be replying to the Nara as well?"

For a moment, Temari froze in her place. Sakura saw the older girl's face scrunch up in thought before she shook her head. "No." And she held the door open for Sakura and Sai to walk out.

Gaara eyed his sister a second too long before nodding. "All right then..." And he turned to the other door that led to the circular room where the many teams were waiting for him to approve their leave. "You didn't happen to pass through the Circle to get here, yes?"

Sakura and Sai, who were about to exit through the back door, froze.

"I did," Sai said cheerfully. "Everyone got a clear look of me when I passed."

Gaara's gourde started to rattle again. "Just wonderful…" he muttered tiredly, and he swept out into the Circle.

Sakura caught her breath as she turned to Temari once Gaara had disappeared. "I'm really sorry about this."

Temari's haughty expression was back on her face. "Sorry for what? We're not doing anything to aid rogues." After saying this, she plucked at Sakura's hair timidly. "What are your thoughts of dyeing your hair red?"

Sakura's hand flew to her head, almost protectively. "Eh… what?"

Temari shook her head. "I rest my case. You can just wear a hat all your waiting days. Now come. We have a lot to do."

Sai, who had been silent majority of the time except to spout out some uncomfortable remarks, pulled the hat from his head and unceremoniously jammed it onto Sakura's pink hair.

Sakura let out a strangled protest. "Hey – !"

"There!" Sai said proudly. "We can barely know it's you!"

* * *

_**A/N: Sorry for the late update. Work schedule change. Gah…**_


	5. The Desert Colony, Gifu

**Chapter Five:**

**The Desert Colony, Gifu**

* * *

It was amazing how the desert could suddenly turn freezing cold the moment the sun disappeared from the sky. Everything seemed to succumb to the darkness that would have been absolute, had it not been for the lopsided waxing crescent moon hanging in the night sky like a naughty grin. Not a cloud dotted the velvet sky, and stars were splattered above them, winking down at Sakura as she looked up at them in awe. Konoha had always been a lively village, and unless seen from a remote part of the training grounds or the top of the Hokage Monument, one wouldn't be able to see the night sky as clearly as how she saw it now. It was quite romantic, really.

_If you weren't riding in the back of a wagon carrying barrels and barrels of fermenting plum, _she thought.

Sakura sighed as she tugged at the floppy hat on her head with her good hand and stretched her legs in front of her to get rid of the kinks on her knees and ankles. She had been in that covered wagon for over three hours past, and she had spent majority of the time looking out of the canvas flap. Gifu was a desert colony another day away by a ninja's pace, but took more than twice as long when you were traveling by wagon carrying twenty barrels of pickle fruit. The animals have to be watered regularly, and they will have to stop at any available shade tomorrow by noon. She wished she could just run. She knew it would be faster that way.

Sai had said nothing to her in those three hours, but instead had taken a liking to sitting at the back of the wagon, looking out into the dunes – not at the sky, not at the stars, but at the sand – as if seeing things only he could see. He had one knee pulled up against his chest, his other leg dangling from the wagon, his right hand poised as if holding an invisible paintbrush between his fingers. Once in a while he would lean his head back on the barrel nearest him, close his eyes only to open them again and stare at the white canvas of the wagon. It was strange that he didn't bother to engage her in a silly conversation, or look at her for that matter. When he got tired of staring at the wagon cover, he would reposition himself with his legs dangling, once again setting his eyes back on the sand.

After he had run off with Kankurou for supplies before they were herded onto the wagon heading for Gifu, Sakura was left with Temari and her lectures about the desert colony culture. She had barely heard everything when she found herself feeling quite confused with the traditions, rules and manner they had to maintain if they wanted to stay in the colony peacefully.

"_They would know you are foreigners, so there would be a little bit of consolation, but if you're posing as a Healer who desperately wants the job, they would expect you to – _try_ – to fit in," _Temari had said to her. It made perfect sense, of course. But the perfect sense that it made started to contradict itself when the older kunoichi showed her a painting of the said desert colony where several dark-skinned women were collecting water from the fresh water supply from a crude well at the center of the village. _"Do not show them your palms. The men and women wear specific fingerless gloves made of soft leather." _

Sakura nearly made a protest because the women in the painting did indeed wear fingerless gloves that were tied neatly at the wrists with what looked like normal rope, but the robes they wore, although loose, were hitched so high up their thighs that all you needed to do was tilt your head _ever so slightly_ and you'd see what should not be seen. Temari had explained immediately. _"The hands are an important part of their culture. People in the desert value their honest work, and since most of that said work is hard labor, they value their hands almost as much as they value their hearts. A man and a woman cannot show each other their palms, more so hold hands unless they were married. If a man were to touch a woman's palms by accident, he will be charged with Defilement." _When Temari saw the weird look on Sakura's face, she shrugged. _"It is equivalent to rape in our region. Once a child turns of age – which is fifteen – they cannot bare their hands in public any more, else be accused of indecent exposure. If a couple, married or not, is caught holding hands in public, it would be public indecency. Understand?"_

It appears to only apply to the opposite sex, but still… How were lovers supposed to express themselves towards each other?

"_By touching or brushing their cheeks against yours, silly,"_ Temari had said.

Sakura had nodded vaguely, though she didn't quite understand at all. The women in the pictures had their damn legs exposed! So while it was all right to flaunt your legs, it was not all right to flaunt your hands? It was a mystery to her how they got anything done with gloves on all the time. How did they wash the dishes? Or themselves?

Nonetheless, she had let Temari continue about the ups and downs and in betweens of Gifu, each sounding even more unbelievable than the last as she went on.

"Nice night tonight."

Sakura didn't realize she had closed her eyes until she found them popping open at the sound of Sai's voice. "What?"

"The night. It's nice. Don't you think so?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Just dandy."

Her tone might have been what made Sai look over to her with that dark gaze of his. "You don't sound too happy."

"What would you expect?"

"We found a good hiding place. That's what matters, right?"

"In a place where holding hands is considered as some sort of advanced state of foreplay," Sakura pointed out.

Sai shrugged indifferently. "So? It's not like you're going to be skipping around the colony holding hands with some boy to broadcast your foreign lifestyle."

Sakura stared at him in disgust, which the Root agent mistook for something else.

"You _don't_ plan on skipping around the colony holding hands with some boy, right?" Sai asked dryly in that_ I-don't-really-care _voice of his, though his eyebrows were a margin higher up on his forehead.

"Don't be stupid. I would never – !"

"Then what's the problem?" He asked silently as he returned his gaze back outside of the wagon. "The Kazekage has gone out of his way for us, even with the slightest possibility of disturbing the alliance between Konoha and Suna. All of it's because of you and Naruto and the bond that you've created with Gaara and his siblings. Gaara is praying for the restoration of the Leaf. We mustn't disappoint him." He moved the barrel behind him to the side with his shoulder and lay down on his back with a slight grunt.

When Sakura had briefed Sai of the lifestyle in Gifu, the boy had hardly given a reaction at all. Well, of course this was _Sai_, and he almost _never_ gives a reaction appropriate for the occasion, but she was still surprised at how nonchalant he could be when faced with spontaneous situations. He had merely dug into his rucksack and procured Sakura's gloves for her. She had accepted it grudgingly, and decided that she will have to get those fingerless gloves when they reach the colony.

Sakura tore her gaze away from Sai and buried her face into her knees. "Disappointing them is the least of my worries. I have to stay alive… " The only thing she was looking forward to, was the safety the desert colony would be able to provide her. She still hasn't forgotten what Shizune had told her before Sai had busted her from the prison underneath the Hokage Tower.

"You _will _stay alive," Sai said matter-of-factly, pulling up his legs and propping them on one of the other barrels near the mouth of the wagon. "Get some rest."

It took all of Sakura's self-control not to pull at his hair and toss him out into the cold sand outside. While she was usually not violent unless provoked, she could not understand how Sai could stimulate such negative emotions from within her, even when he obviously meant well. She decided it had to be the stress.

She wondered if it was a good enough excuse. She was lucky Sai didn't take it too personally, if at all.

Or so she thought.

"Ever since we left the village, all you've ever done is complain and cry. I have to say, it's quite unbecoming," Sai suddenly said, and this was from someone who seldom, if never, complained. "While you have a good head on your shoulders most of the time, I'm afraid you wear your heart in your sleeve majority of the time as well. This is your weakness. And while you are quite open to your own emotions, you seem to find trouble expressing them."

Sakura felt taken aback by what Sai had just said, and wondered if the boy really was as emotionally handicapped as everyone said he was. Or maybe it was _because_ he was totally lacking in the department was he was capable of looking at the world through eyes unbiased by human emotion.

She looked away.

Sai had hit the nail on the head. She had known herself to suppress her emotions quite well when she was young, and there had been a point in her life when she had thought so vaguely of the possibility that she _might_ have had an absolutely different Sakura – a sort of alter ego – living in her head. Either way, between her Inner Sakura and her, both were quite prone to violence. It had always been easier to punch a person unconscious than to openly talk to them. Naruto and Sai had been the two constant targets of her rage every time she tried to mask her concern for them with brutal physical abuse. It could have been Yamato who had pointed it out to her once, but she had shrugged it off saying he was_ 'reading into it too much'._ Kakashi had said the same thing, and she laughed at him for agreeing with Yamato. And when Kakashi said that she was going to have a hard time finding a boyfriend because of that trait, she had threatened him with a fist. Kakashi never mentioned it again.

In an attempt to prove him wrong, Sakura simply gave him a one-sided smile. There was _no way_ in the world she was going to admit to Sai that he pretty much had her figured out. It wasn't fair that he would be able to catch on her weakness when he wasn't any better than she.

_But at least… he doesn't try to deny it… _

Sakura gave him a challenging look. "You're the last person on earth to give me a sermon, you know."

"I know. But someone's got to do it sooner or later, right?" Sai rolled onto his side, propping his head on a hand and returning her stare. "You _are _aware that since Gifu is a colony that places special value in their hands, you won't be able to use them for violence? The people there don't hold objects that they intend to use for dishonorable means." He gave her one of those annoying fake smiles. "Or use them to ground a man to dust with their bare fists?"

Sakura opened her mouth, closed it again. She supposed that what he said was right. How he knew that certain trivia, she did not know, but what he had said couldn't possibly be farfetched. She lowered her eyes, said nothing.

Sai took this silence as an opportunity to make her feel even worse. "There are other means of expressing yourself. Other means that don't include… _pain_. Or… _abnormally centered _chakra_ surges_."

Normally, Sakura would have taken this as another insult, but reading too much into it will simply justify that what he had just said about her was true. She didn't even know why it bothered her too much. Maybe it was because she had been so used to Naruto, who accepted every single punch she delivered his way without complaining. When had she started to care, really? Maybe it was the moment Sai had called her Ugly. Or the moment he had handed her an umbrella he produced from his own jutsu when she had started to doubt Naruto's capabilities. Or when he had saved her life from a gigantic poisonous spider and asked her if his daring chivalry had impressed her.

She had started caring, she supposed, when _Sai _started to care.

And the way he was looking at her right now, those deadpanned eyes betraying nothing, she wondered how much he _did _care. She frowned at him, then decided to ignore him altogether. She resumed looking out of the canvas flap and sighed. This was going to be a very, very long journey...

"By the way," Sai started again. "Before we left the Hidden Sand, you made a pit stop at the edge of the village in the graveyard. Is there someone buried there who you knew?"

Sakura didn't take her eyes away from the scene moving outside. She hadn't been aware that Sai was watching when she had visited Elder Chiyo's grave. How long had it been since she'd thought about the older Sand Kunoichi? Well, it was not as if she'd had the time to actually mourn much for her. There just wasn't enough… free time? Tch. That just sounded so wrong.

"A friend of the Leaf," she said simply, feeling suddenly sad.

Sai, in a rare show of empathy, didn't say anything, but instead nodded his head before closing his eyes for a short nap.

* * *

It had been barely two days since they had been dispatched from Konoha with orders to locate and retrieve Uzumaki Naruto, and Hyuuga Neji was already sensing their secret mission was going to go haywire. And it would be all Rock Lee's fault.

The boy hadn't stopped shedding tears of… _youthful independence?_... since they've crossed the village boundaries, once in a while saying "Gai-sensei I will make you proud!" or "If I do not find Naruto-kun, I will run a thousand laps around the Fire Country border! With blindfolds on!", or something of the like.

"If you do not shut him up, I will kill him. Painfully," Inuzuka Kiba threatened silently as he sat down from across Neji on the other side of the bonfire, right next to Akamaru, who looked like he was pretending to sleep. The Inuzuka did not look like he was capable of killing anyone at the moment, though. If anything, he looked very emotionally drained.

All of them were.

Aburame Shino, who was successful in blending in with their surroundings – without meaning to – looked like a dark lump of something behind Kiba, his dark sunglasses reflecting the light of the fire. The insect-user was probably the only one Neji didn't have a problem relating with, because the boy hardly even talked.

"Kiba," Hinata said, a bit flustered as she emerged from the bushes, carrying a handful of berries she must have collected from the forest. "This isn't the time to be impatient with Team Gai…"

Kiba had the decency to look ashamed, but was too grumpy to even apologize to Lee, who was, in turn too busy power-squatting to be offended.

Neji looked at his cousin worriedly. "Is she…?"

Hinata shook her head and tried to avoid his gaze. "She doesn't want to talk."

Neji furrowed his brow. While he had been intent on keeping Danzo's hands far, _far_ away from Hinata's eyes, there were other problems he knew he needed to take care of, and the pain about it was that he seldom had to deal with such problems in his _Jounin_ years.

Tenten was depressed. She wouldn't eat, she wouldn't talk to anyone and had taken to separating herself from the group whenever they camped. And he didn't even know the reason behind it. It was annoying, really. Majority of the time, Tenten was above the average female when it came to mood swings. But then again, it was not everyday your village gets destroyed, and the most powerful woman in the Country of Fire was reduced to a mere shadow of what she used to be.

Neji lowered his eyes to the ground, but could sense Hinata giving him a pointed look. He groaned inwardly, sighed heavily before using his hands to push himself off the ground to stand. "I'll… go talk to her, then."

He left the camp without noticing the significant look Lee gave Hinata and Kiba as if he had a secret to tell. As expected, he found Tenten perched on a branch of a stout Fig, her legs dangling loosely under her, her eyes cast into the dark nothingness, as if in a trance.

"Tenten," Neji called, looking up at her.

The kunoichi, who rarely kept anything to herself, looked over her shoulder before hesitating, then jumped down from the branch. "What?" she asked shortly.

Neji was a bit taken aback. Tenten had never really been outwardly hostile to him before, and was in fact one of the very few he had gotten along smoothly over the years. But right now, she looked close to actually sulking. Tenten _never _sulked. She complained sometimes, and she lost her temper on occasion, but she _never_ sulked.

Neji did not have the patience to deal with sulky females. Not when he had just led two teams away from the village to defect. He crossed his arms over his chest. "Something's bothering you."

An annoyed look passed the dark-haired girl's face for a second before it disappeared and she scowled at him. "I needed my alone-time."

Neji felt his left eyebrow twitch. Tenten hated being alone and left out. It had always been her defining trait, of never wanting to be left behind. "You understand that you've abandoned me with a very depressed Lee, and a very agitated Team Kurenai. Shino, I hardly even know the boy, Kiba is making the thick tension even worse, and Hinata's been collecting berries… " He crossed his arms over his chest. "I need you back in the camp."

This earned him an even deeper scowl. Neji didn't understand what was wrong with his teammate at the moment. He never had to deal with such a thing before, and now he knew why; it was just a good waste of time. Time… Something they didn't have. He was not into underestimating Shimura Danzo. But he had to make sure his team was functioning well. This was not turning out to be a good start.

"Neji," Tenten started, her finger rubbing at the side of her nose tiredly. "Just once, can you please leave me alone?"

Another first. Neji was never very skilled with _'reading between the lines' _when it came to women. He assumed that since Gai-sensei was never really a ladies' man, the boys of Team Nine hadn't been trained to deal greatly with the fairer sex. Damn it. He was seventeen. He was a _Jounin_! He was sure that he can handle anything beyond his job description.

Sighing, he gestured with his hands towards Tenten. "Talk to me. Something's not right with you, and it might compromise everything if we start keeping secrets from each other."

"I'm not keeping a secret from you."

"You're not yourself so I assumed…" Neji felt his resolve fade when he saw Tenten's face crumple up into a frighteningly sad expression. God, he hoped she wasn't going to end up bursting into tears.

"What's happening, Neji? We come back from a mission and find Konoha completely destroyed. And then a few days later, we discover some old geezer is replacing Tsunade-sama as Hokage! What's going to happen from now on?"

Neji opened his mouth to answer, closed it back slowly. While most of the _Jounin_ had come to an indefinite conclusion that following Danzo was for the best – it took Kakashi and Gai to convince them all to believe this – Neji didn't think those lower than _Jounin_ level were briefed on what was really going on. It was not an out of place reaction for Tenten to be confused and troubled about the events.

He just didn't expect her to take this too badly.

Or did he?

It wasn't new to him, Tenten's personal dream of being as strong – and maybe stronger – than Tsunade. He could only imagine how Tenten must be feeling after having the only woman she'd ever admired reduced close to nothing. Or worse yet, having found out Haruno Sakura, who Tenten had always wanted to challenge in a fair spar, to have been quite dealt brutally by Danzo himself. Neji could only be glad that he was able to smuggle them out of what used to be their home. Now all they have to do is find Naruto. He didn't know why, but he felt like… they just had to find him.

"Danzo may not be Tsunade, but he is Hokage. The existence of a Hokage within the Village is crucial. Better than not having one at all."

"Don't talk to me like that, as if I don't already know it," Tenten said silently. She brought her head down on one hand, covering her face. "Danzo ordered you to form two teams to locate Naruto. What are you planning to do now?"

Neji's mouth thinned into a straight line, and he felt his eyes narrow. He had never used the _Byakugan_ on Tenten except for sparring, but as he silently activated his bloodline limit, he was not surprised to see her chakra fluctuating slightly. It was most likely the stress. He deactivated the _Byakugan_, then closed his eyes. "We do what we must."

And that was when he felt her. He had always known her to be the most agile of the kunoichi in her age bracket, but he hadn't known she was capable of doing it even when delivering embraces. Neji froze as she draped her arms loosely on his shoulders and she buried her face into his chest.

"This sucks…" she said, her voice muffled within the fabric of his shirt.

Neji raised his hand and awkwardly patted her head a few times before letting his arms drop to his sides again. Because this was the first time Tenten had shown signs of femininity – or weakness, for that matter – he was not so sure how to comfort her. "Yeah. Yeah, I know…"

Tenten pulled back and looked up at him with those uncomfortably big, brown eyes of hers. "What do we do now? Are we… really going to track down Naruto and bring him back to the Leaf?"

Neji looked away from her. This was not the right time to talk about his plan, and he was hoping to have her back in camp where they could at least have the others on guard as they talked about their strategy. But he did not know what made him want to assure her that he was not Danzo's pawn. "I've already told this to Hinata, Tenten. Almost everyone in the Leaf risked his or her life to protect Naruto from Akatsuki. I am not about to turn him in so easily just because some old person I hardly even _want_ to recognize as the Sixth is blackmailing me to do so, in exchange for the safety of my cousin's eyes."

He had not expected what he had said would make Tenten feel better, and so was surprised when a small smile broke her lips, lighting up her face completely. "I knew it. I knew you weren't some pushover."

Neji raised one eyebrow at her. "You were doubting me?"

"You never said anything. You just pulled me and Lee, telling us we have a mission handed down by Danzo to bring back Uzumaki Naruto, and the next thing we knew, we were leaving the village gates with Team Eight, _without_ Gai-sensei. What had you expected us to think?"

"I had expected you to trust me?" he suggested, suddenly feeling quite claustrophobic with Tenten's arms still around his neck. He was not used to having her this close, as she usually trained with him long-range. He gently pried her fingers from his neck. "This isn't the right place to discuss anything. We should get back to the others and set up traps around camp before anything else."

Tenten didn't seem to have taken his sudden rebuff too much to heart, and she rubbed her nose with a thumb, grinning. "And I suppose you're expecting someone to be following us, even when we've left the village under Danzo's permission? I don't think so."

Neji knew he was being paranoid, and he was about to acknowledge Tenten's point when out of nowhere, Lee suddenly catapulted through the bushes and was in between them in a flash.

"I want a hug, too!" the wide-eyed boy demanded, and leaned against Neji so dangerously close that Neji had to take a hasty step back. Tenten was now scratching the side of her face, looking a bit embarrassed.

"Give me a hug, too, Neji!" Lee pleaded. "My young heart is aching at what's been happening with the village and – "

"Hell. No," Neji said dryly as he turned his back at him. Maybe – just maybe – in some weird, parallel universe, he would have rolled over, given Lee a tight embrace and tell him that everything was going to be all right. That was a big maybe, though.

"How about a group hug, then?" Lee bargained, looking from Tenten to Neji like a very eager puppy. It was creepy. He was starting to really, really look and sound like Gai-sensei.

Tenten raised her hands in front of her in mock surrender. "I don't think so."

Lee looked really hurt. "I feel left out. You were hugging just now! "

Neji felt his face heat up. Tenten turned away in a hurry. This was not a good day.

"I want you two back in camp. _Now_. And no more talks about hugging," Neji snapped. The last thing he wanted was for the other team to think they were some touchy-feely group that broke down into each others' arms when faced with a difficulty.

He soon found out that that was the least of his problems.

The moment he entered camp, Kiba and Hinata were already fighting. About what, he didn't know.

"What's this about this time?" Neji asked Shino, who was still sitting on his rock as he watched Kiba try to defend himself when Hinata hissed something to him that he didn't like.

"They are fighting for the spot of first watch," Shino mumbled. "This never happens, usually. Kiba would be too aggressive, and Hinata would be too submissive. But it seems as if Hinata's… _changed_… since the invasion."

Yes, things were getting even worse. It was not hard to notice that certain backbone Hinata's grown ever since she was able to tell Naruto her long-standing feelings for him. It was a mystery, really, how that confession seemed to have set free a confidence that no one knew was there within the young Hyuuga.

Of course, no one knew if Naruto was able to answer her back. Neji felt a headache coming. He stalked towards Kiba and Hinata and wedged himself between them. "_I'm _taking first watch. Now I want you all to gather around and get ourselves a little bit coordinated, all right?"

Kiba looked at him with that wild look in his eyes but nodded gruffly before settling down in front of the fire where Shino also took his place opposite him.

Hinata raised her chin up. "I can do it," she said, looking hurt.

"I don't doubt it. But until we get the tasks evenly distributed between all of us, I am expecting full cooperation from you, Hinata." He intentionally left out the honorifics. While on this mission, he was the _Jounin_ talking to a _Chuunin_. He did not want Hinata thinking that he going to give her special treatment because of the way they were born. He didn't think Hinata would like it, otherwise. "Do we have an understanding, then?"

Hinata, eyes widening slightly, for what, Neji didn't know, nodded and said, "Yes, Captain."

Startled at the quick change from stubborn to submissive, he gave a curt nod. He saw Lee and Tenten emerge from the bushes, still arguing about Neji could only guess as about group hugs, in which Neji could have sworn Kiba's ears nearly twitched. It could have been comical because Akamaru's ears twitched with him. The Nin dog, who didn't seem to like the mood of the group, had been avoiding eye contact with Kiba the whole time, but was now allowing his partner to scratch him between the ears. The tension had been obviously broken when Neji made it clear he was Captain, and Kiba had yielded to that fact.

When everyone had settled down around the fire, Hinata and Tenten started handing out small cups of lukewarm tea heated from the fire. Neji cleared his throat when everyone started busying themselves with their drinks. "This isn't the first time our teams have worked together. There had been several opportunities in the past, but I would like to point out how this probably is the hardest mission we would have to undertake together. Because while we have proven our teamwork is quite effective against certain enemies, we have yet to see how well we do with fighting against…" Neji took a deep breath. He didn't want to say it out loud, because he just didn't want to believe that it was true. "… against former allies."

While he had expected for a collection of violent reactions from the group, he had not expected a mere Aburame Shino being the only one to react.

Shino jerkily raised his hand over his hooded head, taking everyone by surprise, even his own teammates.

Neji, feeling lost for a few seconds, recovered and nodded at the sullen boy, encouraged him to continue. "Yes, Shino?"

"I would just like to let you know… that if you are planning to track down Uzumaki Naruto, I will do everything in my power to stop you," the Aburame said silently, lowered his hand down along with his head.

A very uncomfortable silence followed his declaration. Neji sighed. How many times did he have to explain to everyone that he did not intend to sell Naruto out? "When I said former allies, I was referring to our Hokage, Shino."

This, in accordance to his earlier presumption, brought about several raised eyebrows, and in Lee's case, a raised fist.

"A resistance led by the young genius, Hyuuga Neji! A true example of youth, in its finest!" Lee started shaking excitedly. Shino inched away from the green-clad _Taijutsu_ master, managing to look disturbed under his layers and layers of clothes. Then as if the true meaning of Neji's words finally drew in on him, Lee lowered his fist and gave everyone a meaningful look. "Then why have are we here if we are not to follow the Hokage's orders?"

A lot of things they needed to know. In the corner of his eye, he could see Hinata looking down at her feet, her pearly eyes reflecting the light of the fire and casting dark shadows on her pale cheeks. They did not know how Danzo was planning to bribe Kumo into an alliance with Hinata's eyes. They did not know that it needed Shikamaru's brilliance to convince the Sixth not to break the alliance with Suna. They did not know Danzo had intended to kill Tsunade and Sakura had they not escaped. And they did not know that Danzo was planning to do with Naruto. No, even Neji didn't know what the old man was planning to do with one of the two remaining _Jinchuuriki_. He only knew that it could never be good.

Before anything else, he briefed the two teams about the reality behind New Konoha, and the fact about their impending entrance into the world of rouge. Once Danzo realized they were not reporting back, it could only arise suspicion in an already suspicious man. The moment he had begun, everyone, even Kiba was silent and listening.

"We split up into two groups," Neji said after laying down a brief explanation on what he knew about Danzo. "We have two objectives. One: Rally with Naruto and Tsunade. And two: Locate Haruno Sakura."

Neji should have known the latter objective would cause Lee to burst into one of his energetic speeches about love and beauty. And he did.

"If it is about the love of my life, Sakura, then leave it to me! No matter where she may be, I shall find her, and we will rejoice in the reunion and – "

"Yeah, yeah. We all know the deepest, darkest corners of your desire contain very creative ways of rejoicing the reunion, Lee," Tenten interrupted, grabbing the energetic boy's arm and forcing him back to sit down. "But that doesn't really solve the problem we have right before us, Neji. We have no idea where they are. They could be anywhere."

Hinata was pulling at something from her rucksack and in a few moments she unrolled a map of the countries surrounding the Country of Fire. She was biting her lower lip uncertainly. "Tenten is right, Neji-nii… I mean, Captain. It could take us… f-forever to find Sakura. More so Na-naruto…"

It was not unexpected that they get discouraged. He looked down at the map and frowned. Chances were, if Kakashi's intel was accurate, Sakura was accompanied by Sai. Even with Sakura wounded when she left, with Sai's excellent mode of transportation, like Hinata said, they could be anywhere. His eyes narrowed at the small dot on the map symbolizing the Hidden Sand Village. It was the only village he could think of that Naruto and Sakura would risk going to, and what were the chances of them meeting up in a place so obvious even to Danzo? Still, it wouldn't hurt to check.

They had the rest of their lives to look… given they weren't to get caught.

Neji tapped the map with his index finger, then traced an invisible circle around the Wind Country. "One team will search here." He felt his heart sink at the vastness of said country. Did he really know what he was doing?

Shino leaned in and nodded gravely. "We would assume that Team Nine would handle this portion, because your team is already familiar with the terrain?"

Neji crossed his arms over his chest. "That would be efficient, so to speak. Will that be fine with you?"

Shino nodded once more. "My insects would work better in humid places than dry ones."

Kiba grinned his toothy grin, and pointed a sharp nail and dragged it across the tiny collection of smaller countries surrounding the Country of Fire. "That gives us the leftovers, Akamaru."

Akamaru snorted, as if put off with Kiba's choice of words.

Neji turned to him. "I don't think I need to tell you not to enter Earth and Lightning Country, right? The last thing we want is a renegade snooping around enemy grounds."

Kiba shrugged. "I know. Don't worry. We'll be careful."

Tenten still did not look too convinced. "But Neji, we don't even know if Naruto and Sakura _want_ to be found. It could take us months. Years, even!"

Neji straightened his back stiffening at Tenten's slight rebuff. "We don't have months. Or years. Unless you want to live the rest of your life banished from the only home you've known since you were born, and the only family you've had locked in jail simply for the mere reason of having their beliefs differing from the Sixth."

Tenten, suddenly looking quite embarrassed, looked away. "No… I wouldn't want that, no."

"Neither would I. We didn't work this hard to be who we are, only to have that identity dyed away with Danzo's regime. I _will _not have it!" Neji said, realizing too late that he had raised his voice at Tenten, something he seldom – if never – did.

Hinata sat up on her knees and nodded vigorously. "N-now that our family's finally getting along well, we can't let Danzo change everything what we believe in! And we ca-ca-can't let him have Na-naruto!" She suddenly blushed when she found everyone's eyes on her. She ducked her head low, but smiled shyly up at Neji, who nodded at her encouragingly.

"Hinata is right. Danzo is changing the meaning of what we believe as the Will of Fire. Unforgivable," Shino added, a few small bugs crawling down the side of his face, as if his insects too were suddenly feeling uneasy.

Kiba growled appreciatively. "Count me and Akamaru in, Neji. You want that stinky Naruto sniffed out, leave it to us."

"This is so wonderful!" Lee exclaimed, once again shaking with excitement. "We will find Naruto, Tsunade-sama and Sakura, restore Tsunade-sama in her rightful place, and celebrate properly Naruto's victory over Akatsuki's Pain! And Sakura and I will dance the night away with – "

"Yeah, yeah, we know, Lee," Tenten interrupted again, this time slapping her hand over Lee's mouth to muffle out whatever he had to say about Haruno Sakura. Tenten turned to Neji, looking sheepish. "We'll find them, Neji. I'm sorry. For doubting. I'll do my best."

And as Neji watched everyone break into small hopeful chattering, Neji nodded at Tenten and thought, _'I don't doubt you would.' _

* * *

She woke up when she felt her world had stopped moving, and she found out the wagon she had been riding in had come to a full halt to a place she could see but a sliver of from the half-open canvas to her right. Bright light was pouring in from the flap of the wagon, and by the way the rays of the sun slanted against the barrels and the wooden flooring of her transportation, she could only guess it was already high noon of the third day of their travel.

The first thing Sakura did was check on the scrolls hidden beneath the layers of grey robes Temari had provided for her, and she sighed in relief to find them still intact.

The only one who was missing was Sai.

Before Sakura had nodded off to sleep, Sai had been content on sitting with his back propped against a plum barrel, a sketch book Sakura didn't even know he had with him balanced on his knees, and a thin paintbrush comfortably tucked between the index finger and thumb of his right hand.

The two had actually run out of things to talk about by the second day of travel, and while Sai had accepted the silence as an opportunity to paint, it drove Sakura half-crazy. The itch that had developed between the wrist and elbow of her still healing arm may have something to do with it, but the main reason was because of the boredom; she had absolutely _nothing _to do.

Water breaks for the camels and toilet breaks for the riders came in short intervals, especially at noon, and they rested a few minute in shades of gigantic barrel cacti they came to pass along the way. At least, even for just a few moments those water breaks had saved her from the never-ending monotony of the sound of the wagon wheels against sand and stone, and the frequent spitting the camels made every time the driver ushered them forward.

Once in a while, Sai had looked up from his sketch book and turned to her to ask how her arm was, and she would grunt in response, at times ignoring him altogether. She didn't know how and why she had started being rude to the boy, when he had in fact done nothing wrong in particular. It was thanks to Sai's lack of emotions that saved Sakura from the guilt of hurting his feelings.

Sakura sighed, stretched her neck to one side to awaken the sore muscles she's acquired from sleeping at an odd angle on the floor. After getting the feeling back to her legs, she crawled towards the canvas flap and pulled it open, just in time to see Sai handing what suspiciously looked like a fat bag of money to the wagon driver, who in turn hastily slipped it into his back pocket, bowed at the Root member and disappeared around the wagon.

Sakura narrowed her eyes at Sai, who looked back at her with that bland look. "What was that about?" she asked.

"Gaara's orders," Sai said simply as he reached out his hand to her. "We're here. You have to get down or the driver won't be able to unload the barrels."

Sakura unconsciously reached out to grab his hand, but Sai instantly took it away, making Sakura stumble forward, missing her step and nearly ended up with her face on the hot sand.

"Keep your guard up," Sai said dryly.

Sakura wiped her palm against her shirt, feeling stupid. "Sorry…" Had anyone been looking, they could have been accused of being indecent… What a pain.

Trying her best to look comfortable in her robes and Sai's stupid floppy hat, she fixed herself up and took in her surroundings as the driver hastily unloaded his wagon of the many, many barrels of pickled plum onto several small pushcarts waiting at the edge of a valley littered with wild heliotrope and enormous boulders. A few hundred feet away, Sakura could make out squat houses made of stone and clay surrounded by a wall of slabs of driftwood, most probably taken from the seaside located in the farther south. Somewhere in the broad expanse of tiny buildings and elephant trees and fishhook cacti, she could make out several men and women stooped in working at something Sakura couldn't quite make out from this distance. Some of the people looked up when the driver finally unloaded the last of the barrels of plum.

Sai was busy adjusting his fingerless gloves and paid little attention to his environment, as if he didn't even take notice of four huge men coming their way, carrying scythes and other pointy things Sakura didn't recognize.

"Sai, you liar! Those men are carrying weapons! You said – "

"Those aren't weapons. They are tools. An object will only be a weapon depending on the wielder. The people of Gifu never wield weapons. _Never_," Sai interjected silently as he gave Sakura a pointed look. "Let go of my sleeve, please."

Sakura looked down at her hand and discovered she was indeed, clutching Sai's sleeve tightly. She hastily pulled away, as if burned.

Sai smiled at her with that annoying smile of his and he turned around to see the four men stopping hesitantly a few feet away from them, all looking quite uncertain. They whispered between each other before once more looking at them over their shoulder. It looked like whispering about strangers was not considered rude in Gifu.

After a moment of more whispering, the smaller of the four men with a mop of ash blonde hair, dark grey eyes and a deep, olive tan finally nodded and began to approach them. The other three had settled on their haunches, their heads lowered towards Sakura and Sai.

"It pleases us to have visitors within Gifu's humble walls," the man said once he reached Sakura and Sai close enough to bow slightly, right fist pressed against his heart. Sakura assumed this was a common greeting in the colony because she saw Sai imitate the man. Stiffly, Sakura too pressed her right fist over her chest and bowed.

The blonde man, Sakura saw, was looking at them curiously. "My name is Tomona. What brings foreigners from outside the Country of Wind?"

Sakura felt in desperate need to retreat. Damn Temari for not thinking about better answers for them if ever they were asked questions like this. She managed a quick glimpse at Sai and saw that the Root member was smiling at the man who had introduced himself as Tomona. She instantly started to pray for Sai to think before he started talking, but much to her surprise, the wagon driver suddenly appeared from around the wagon, pulling one of the camels by its lead.

"Tomona, it pleases me to see you well."

At the sight of the wagon driver, Tomona's tan face broke into a sincere smile, and he once again placed his fist on his chest and bowed. "Han, it's been too long. I was wondering when you would be given the shipment for plum to Gifu. We still owe you a few drinks in the tavern tonight."

The driver, Han, chuckled richly and Sakura saw the man patting the back pocket where he had stuffed the money Sai had given him. "You will owe me more than a few drinks. I have found you a Healer!"

Tomona blinked several times before finally having the news Han had suddenly blurted out of the blue sink in. The man looked from Sai to Sakura and back again. Sai's smile broadened. Sakura looked away, embarrassed. This has got to be one of the most awkward introductions she's ever had in her life. The man burst out chuckling happily. "Dinner is on me tonight, Han!"

Han gestured to Sakura with his gloved hand. "Meet Haruno Sakura, from the Land of Valleys. We met in Suna where she and her fiancé, Sai, were taken in after having lost their way in the Wind country because of a sand storm. Gaara-sama was kind enough to convince her of taking up the job, given her skills in healing." Han grinned crookedly. "Let's just hope she stays longer than two days this time."

Sakura blinked a few times and tried to backtrack on what this Han guy had just said to Tomona. She didn't know what made her open and close her mouth like a fish: the fact that Han had just declared Sai as her fiancé, or the fact that Han had just declared that the last healer of the village didn't last longer than two days. She turned to Han, ready to protest. "Excuse me, but – "

"Sakura, _dearest_, you're tired and wounded. I think it would be better if we ask this good man, Tomona here for some water, and maybe shelter," Sai interrupted as he lowered his face so close to her cheek that she could see how long and dark his lashes were. How Sai could have suddenly jumped in on the act so fast, Sakura did not know, but giving it her all not to pull away and raise suspicion on the locals, she nodded and demurely touched her cheek against Sai's. But… _dearest? _She wanted to bet he had read that pet name from one of Kakashi-sensei's dirty books Ugh…

"I would love that," she said before pulling away and looking up at Sai with wide eyes.

Sai looked back at her vacantly before turning to Tomona. "If it pleases you?"

Tomona started blushing fiercely, so happy that he nodded eagerly and turned to the three other men waiting for him to report. "Tai, Min, Goro! It's all right! Han has found us a Healer! Come! Bring in the plum! And Tai, if it pleases you, call the women. They would be so happy!" The moment Tomona acknowledged them, the three men, all abandoning the scythes they were carrying, let out a cheer Sakura didn't quite make out. Tomona turned to Sakura, making her reach up for her hat unconsciously. "Please forgive the excitement. We haven't had a Healer in months now. And now that it is almost winter in the desert, we were starting to worry about the children's health… Thank you for coming. The Healer's Residence is quite spacious, and I'm sure you and your soon-to-be husband would not have a hard time starting a family here."

Sakura felt her face turn beet red, and it had nothing to do with the heat. Sai was now busy looking over his shoulder at the men as they started to push the carts holding the barreled plum towards the cluster of houses within the low wooden wall of the colony. She forced herself to smile. "We are foreigners, and there are yet a lot of things we do not know about your culture."

Tomona nodded eagerly. "Oh, I'm sure you will love it here! We are very far away from the Shinobi Hidden Villages, and the people of Gifu do not know war. We live in peace, and follow the Teachings of the Wind."

This finally got a reaction out of Sai. "The Teachings of the Wind?"

"You haven't heard of the Way of the Wind?"

"Forgive us, but no."

"Why, it is the way of peace! Of non-violence!" Tomona gestured for them to follow him. "Come, then. If it pleases you, let me lead you to your house, and we will call the women and have water and wine and food brought to your doorstep and you can ask anything to your heart's content. Women were always made to be better at explaining things." He blushed again. "Just one thing before we enter the settlement… Please be careful where you place your hands… " His eyes darted to Sakura and Sai's sheathed hands and nodded, satisfied that they at least knew the basic rules within Gifu.

Sakura stole a glance at Sai once Tomona turned his back at them, leading them over the stony path that led up to the colony. "You cheat," she hissed at him when she knew their escort wasn't listening. "How come you know so much about them?"

"I've read about them at one point. I hardly even remember."

"I'm going to make a complete fool of myself. And why didn't you tell me earlier we were going to pose as an engaged couple?"

Sai shrugged. "It doesn't matter now. You are a kunoichi. You were _designed_ for deception."

"That's hardly the point!"

Tomona looked over at them curiously, and Sai instantly brushed his cheek against hers, almost lovingly. Tomona smiled happily. It appears that the man was quite satisfied to have a ready-to-settle Healer in the colony. When he looked forward again, once in a while gesturing at a huge building and explaining something about it, Sai pulled away from her.

"Then _what _is the point you want to make?"

Sakura gritted her teeth. "The point is, I would like to be informed of any plan that you have, before you just let me know about it _five seconds_ before it happens. Isn't that what teamwork means?"

Sai shook his head. "Sakura, let me make this one thing clear to you. _We are not a team._ We – _you and I_ – have been given two different kinds of missions by the same person. While you were burdened with the duty to protect those – _things_ – inside your robes, I was burdened with the duty to protect _you_. Those scrolls mean _nothing_ to me, so long as you stay alive."

Sakura narrowed her eyes at him. "Losing these scrolls is just the same as me dying. Do you understand?"

And that brought out the satisfaction when she saw Sai's eyes widen at her, not being able to think of a wise enough comeback for her declaration. She smirked, and stopped herself from sticking out her tongue at him.

"Here we are, Sakura-san, Sai-san. This is the residence of the past Healers of Gifu," said Tomona as he gestured forward and stepped aside to show the two newcomers what he so proudly refered to as the Healer's Residence.

Sakura looked up.

And her jaw dropped open.

Before them stood a simple two-storey house obviously made of mud and rock, probably for support and better insulation. One wall had small, round windows arrayed in a straight line, and flowering plants were hanging from the inside. The path to the front door was long and winding, surrounded by raised gardening patches where beautiful desert herbs were growing. Aloe Vera lined the front wall of the house, framed by lovely Dittany of Crete in small pots and mismatched clay dishes and bowls. Aside from the occasional cacti here and there, other medicinal herbs only Ino could have known were littered in straight, organized rows in the patches in the middle of the garden. In one side was a practical clothesline used for hanging laundry.

Sai was also examining the house. "You said earlier that you haven't had a Healer in months. But this house looks like someone's been living here all this time."

Tomona scratched his head uncomfortably. "Ah, yes… Well… You see… "

And before Tomona could continue his explanation, the wooden door of the house suddenly burst open, and a very tiny girl no taller than four feet stomped her way into the garden. Her long, fiery red hair combed back into a very disheveled pony tail reminded Sakura of dry blood, and her sharp green eyes reminded her of her own. Her skin, like the rest of the people in Wind Country was dark, and Sakura would have thought her pretty, had it not been for the very, very ugly frown on her wide mouth.

Sai blinked at the girl. "And who is this?" he asked.

The girl's eyes narrowed at Sai evilly, and before anyone could react, the girl had pulled her gloved hand back, pitched it again forward, letting loose several red, round things that Sakura soon discovered to be wolfberries. It hit Sai squarely on the forehead. The sticky juices started to ooze down his still very expressionless face. Sakura would have laughed, had Tomona not started dancing on his toes, quite unsure of what to do when Sai did not move to wipe at his face.

"This is Noa. The granddaughter of the Healer of Gifu who died six years ago," Tomona explained, pausing in front of Sai and offering him a dirty handkerchief the man had procured from his pocket. Sai waved him away.

"Ah… please do not be offended, Sai-san. She means no harm. No one in Gifu means any harm. We all believe in the Teachings of the Wind and – "

"Get the hell out of my grand-mama's property!" Noa screamed, raising her hand over her head again after arming herself with more wolfberries. Now that was a true weapon there.

Sakura hurriedly backed away behind Sai. Teachings of the Wind her ass.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the wait. This chapter took forever to write… **


	6. The First Scroll

**Chapter Six:**

**The First Scroll**

* * *

A week in December brought about several changes in the weather, as well as Danzo's handlings in Konoha. The wind had begun blowing cold from the East, bringing the promise of winter, and of change. Along with the new season, after finally getting the Village back on its feet, Danzo was more than eager to prove to everyone that everything was _'back to normal'_, or worse yet, _'better than before'_. Civilian relocations were finalized by the end of last month, and because of this, business, though slow, had resumed. Trade with Suna was reestablished almost as soon as Nara Shikamaru was released from the Hospital.

It was something Shikamaru dreaded ever since Danzo had been more than persistent to restore Konoho back to its _'former glory'_. A disaster waiting to happen. He just knew it.

"There you are," Chouji said as he patted Shikamaru on the shoulder from behind the booth of the newly built, bigger and better, Ichiraku Ramen.

Shikamaru looked up before returning his chin on his hand, bored. He had never really liked ramen much, but for some reason, as he set out today looking around the newly rebuilt trading square, he had suddenly felt drawn to the place.

"How's the leg?" Chouji asked as he sat opposite Shikamaru on the booth.

Shikamaru shrugged. It was stiff and still needed a few days in rehabilitation. If Haruno Sakura had been here, however, things could have been very different. "It's all right. Been better. Nothing a few stretches can't fix." He was lying, of course. He didn't have time to stretch; the Hidden Sand's Ambassador was coming in thirteen hours… _Goddamn it, Temari_…

"Have you ordered yet?" Chouji asked.

"I was waiting for you to order for us."

An uncertain look passed Chouji's face. "I… I'm not hungry."

Shikamaru nearly fell out of his seat. _"What?"_

"Is there something wrong with not being hungry?" Chouji asked defensively.

Wrong? If Chouji wasn't hungry, something was _definitely_ wrong. Scratching the side of his neck, he decided to drop the subject. Chouji didn't enjoy it when others made a big deal of his food intake, or the lack of, in this case.

"Had I known you didn't want to eat, we could have met somewhere else," Shikamaru said.

Chouji was looking even more uncomfortable. "I know, but I was hoping to make Ino eat…"

At that, Shikamaru lowered his eyes to the table. He knew what Chouji meant. Lately, Ino had started looking like a zombie. She had grown even thinner still, vanity left scattered along with her self-control. While Shikamaru used to think her too vain before, lately the lack of her vanity was starting to get quite disturbing. Before Shikamaru's release from the hospital, Ino had visited him every single day, bringing flowers, and fruits that were not apples. She looked more horrible each time she visited; the long pony tail she always kept high up her head was now always left hanging down her shoulders, framing her face and body, as if using it as some sort of protective cloak around her. Her usual skimpy clothes were replaced with black slacks and a too loose black shirt. When Shikamaru pointed this out, Ino had laughed at him hollowly, saying, "I'm mourning for the Leaf, leave me the hell alone," jokingly. Her laugh hadn't reached her eyes, and Shikamaru knew all too well what was happening to her.

Aside from the pressure of having to interrogate Leaf Shinobi with Ibiki, Ino's motivation to be better at anything had disappeared the moment Haruno Sakura left the Village. She had stopped her medic training, even when Shizune had volunteered to continue her studies. Ino had politely declined, saying she didn't want to take up Shizune's time.

They knew she was lying. Shikamaru and Chouji knew their team mate better than that. And it frightened them that she was starting to cave in. What frightened Shikamaru more was that while everyone tried to stay out of Danzo and his Root agents' way, Ino took every single opportunity given to her to make them feel she didn't like them. Foolish girl. Opposing the Sixth was not going to bring good outcome.

Shikamaru looked up when Ino stumbled into Ichiraku, looking lost. Lately that had been her constant facial expression; blue eyes wide, glassy, sad…

Chouji looked over to her and waved. "Ino, over here!"

It took a while before Ino actually saw them. She was busy examining the newly built ramen bar – now a ramen shop – as if searching for something before her eyes wandered onto their booth. She took her time in making her way to them, once in a while pausing to touch a chair or a soy sauce container, almost nostalgically.

"Have you waited long?" she asked as she sat down beside Shikamaru, who moved over to make room for her.

"We just got here," Chouji said cheerfully.

Ino looked at him, narrowed her eyes. "Have you lost weight?"

Chouji blinked, blushed. "Have I? I don't really know…"

In all honesty, Shikamaru couldn't tell, either. But girls usually paid attention to such detail, so he assumed his best friend _had _lost weight. And lately, Chouji always seemed missing a bag of potato chips in one arm…

Ino shrugged and rested her thin arms on the table, drumming her fingers on the surface distractedly. When no one spoke to elaborate the conversation she began, Ino turned to Shikamaru awkwardly. "I heard from my dad that Temari's coming over for the first time since the regime changed."

A conversation Shikamaru would have wanted to avoid. "Yeah. A message from the Kazekage informed Danzo of her intended visit."

Ino frowned quizzically. "Didn't she write to you personally?"

Another conversation Shikamaru would have wanted to avoid, "No. No, she didn't." He didn't know why it annoyed him too much, this fact. Of course, this was the first time she didn't write back to him when he'd sent her a letter, and couldn't recall anything that might be a reason for her to ignore him. Women were troublesome that way. One day they were smiling at you, the next they would be ignoring your letters. It was a vicious cycle. And to think they weren't even dating.

Chouji was watching him. "You don't look too happy…"

Shikamaru let out a scratchy noise from the back of his throat. "If she had written to me personally, I'd have told her to stay away."

This made Ino frown again, but she decided not to say anything.

Chouji was picking at some invisible lint on his sleeve.

Shikamaru fidgeted. He had not told of his teammates about the seal. Not yet. He just needed a better, more appropriate time and opportunity to lay it on them that he was turned into a dunce.

Shikamaru buried his head into his arm tiredly. Even if he'd told Temari not to come, he knew she would have insisted, if just for the sake of spiting him. She would have asked questions he wouldn't be able to answer, even if he wanted to.

_Damn that Danzo… damn his seal…_

Chouji reached over to the side of the table and pushed the menu towards Ino, who stared at it dumbly. "You should eat. You're the one who's lost a lot of weight."

Ino bit her lower lip, her eyes slowly browsing the menu. "Ramen…"

Shikamaru peered up at her curiously.

Chouji nodded eagerly. "Ramen is good! It'll warm you up in no time. Maybe we could order a side dish of garlic gyoza, or – "

Shikamaru blinked when a shadow fell over them, making Chouji stop talking. All three of them stared up to see Teuchi, the old Ichiraku owner, grinning from ear to ear, carrying a tray of three enormous bowls of steaming ramen.

"Three Uzumaki Naruto Specials, on the house!"

Ino knitted her brow. "You've ordered?" she asked her teammates.

Chouji was eyeing the tray as Teuchi gently placed it in the middle of their table. "I don't believe so." He looked up at the man. "Something new?"

Teuchi was still grinning proudly. "A special menu for Naruto and his friends. So when's the hero coming over? Too busy with his die-hard fans to visit Ichiraku?"

Shikamaru stared hard at the bowls of ramen and reached out for one, carefully placing it in front of him. News about shinobi seldom reached the ears of civilians, unless they were family. It was apparent that the newly relocated citizens hadn't the slightest clue what was happening. Shikamaru wondered if they were aware of the Sixth.

He wondered if Kurenai knew.

Teuchi looked down at them worriedly when none of them replied to his inquiries about Naruto. He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Well, if you bump into him, tell him I'd like to see him. It's not the same without seeing his face on the counter every other day…" With that, the kind man shuffled away, disappearing behind the counter and through the pantry door, once in a while peeking from behind the curtains as if to see if they were eating.

"Shouldn't be turning down free food, Ino!" Chouji declared as he pushed a bowl towards the blonde and handed her a pair of chopsticks.

Those liquid blue eyes of Ino's were looking down at the generous serving of noodles. And Shikamaru could only groan when he saw her lower lip quiver before a tear slid down her cheek. And then another, and another. Ino was seldom emotional. Unlike Sakura, who Shikamaru thought to wear her heart on her sleeve, Ino seldom showed her tears. Seeing her cry was… embarrassing him.

Shikamaru and Chouji looked away, as if it was improper seeing their female teammate cry. The only thing that made them look up was the sound of snapping chopsticks and noisy slurping. Ino had begun to eat.

"This… tastes… wonderful…!" she sobbed between gulps and hiccups as she messily devoured her ramen. This was another first for Shikamaru, seeing Ino pig out on food.

Actually, it was one of the most _beautiful_ things he'd seen lately, and he couldn't help but smile before helping himself with his own ramen.

At seeing both his teammates eating, Chouji, who had just claimed he wasn't hungry, lunged at his own bowl with the vengeance of that of a starving man.

By the time Ino had finished her meal, she had also stopped crying. Chouji and Shikamaru had pretended they hadn't seen her weep. After thanking Teuchi for the free meal, they separated in the square; Shikamaru to get ready for the Sand Ambassador's arrival, Chouji to meet up with his father in the main gates, and Ino for something that concerned seeds and saplings for _Genin_. He only let Ino go after roughly telling her to stop picking fights with the Root Division. Ino had laughed at him and brushed him away.

Shikamaru watched as his teammates walked away gloomily. Biting his inner cheek, he decided to drop by a certain civilian before Temari arrived. He winced. Damn it. His leg was starting to ache again.

What he would give for a cigarette right now.

* * *

There were a number of things _Genin_ didn't know, because it concerned them little, if at all. And they knew better than to question their superiors, especially when it came to mission assignments. A lot of the missions assigned to them ranged from cleaning rivers and chasing runaway pets, to escort missions and intelligence gathering. Sarutobi Konohamaru had always thought himself quite capable of managing such missions, but it was the first time he'd been assigned such that concerned… _flowers_.

As he stared at the pushcart Yamanaka Ino loaded with crate upon crate of saplings and seeds alike, he could only sigh. Yes, he sighed. He didn't complain, like he would have when given a D-rank mission. He had decided he was done complaining. In the past he would have turned his nose the other way, sniffed and said he wanted a more 'respectable' assignment. But when the village his grandfather had nurtured ever so lovingly was ground close to nothing, Leaf nin didn't complain.

They simply obeyed.

"Are you sure you don't want to leave at least half of these and just come back later for them? The shop's open until seven in the evening, you know," Ino said as she wiped her hands on her uncharacteristically billowy trousers. Konohamaru didn't understand why she had suddenly decided to change her image. She was actually one of the few older girls he would have aimed at mimicking for his sexy jutsu.

Puffing his chest proudly, Konohamaru grinned. "Don't worry, Ino-nee. Leave everything to me. I'll get the distribution done before sundown."

Ino looked at him with a slightly arched brow. It was obvious she didn't believe him. "You do know that even if you plant these seeds this month, they won't be budding until spring?"

Konohamaru looked back at her. Why was it that the more people grew older, the harder it was to explain things to them? "It doesn't _matter_ when they bloom. What matters is that we hurry up and plant them. The village will look prettier with even with just the promise of flowers."

Ino sighed, exasperated. "There won't be any flowers in winter, Konohamaru."

Tch… Adults…

"But we have to plant them before Naruto nii-chan comes home. Because he'll love to water them. Or better yet, if we plant them now, and he hears about all the green stuff that's waiting for him, maybe, he'll come home earlier?"

That was when the expression on Ino's face softened. She must have finally understood what he was saying. The blonde gave him a small smile, and Konohamaru thought she looked pretty nice when she smiled. "You're right. You should hurry. Where are Moegi and Udon?"

Konohamaru shrugged importantly. "All the _Genin_ are assigned to different missions in and around the village to make it pretty again. Shizune-nee said so. So Moegi's down by the memorial, patting down uneven soil, and Udon is in the other side of the village, helping out with the pits in the training grounds." He gave Ino a salute. "At this rate, we would be able to get the village back on its feet in no time."

The dark look that was almost always present on Ino's face returned. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but was cut off when a masked Root agent appeared behind her in a flash of light. An annoyed look crossed Ino's face but she didn't move.

Konohamaru backed away. He never did like those Root men in their masks, appearing and disappearing as they please all over the place. He knew better than to get in their way, but there had been moments he swore he saw one or two following him around when out on missions regarding the village renovations.

"Your presence is requested in the Intelligence Office in three hours, Yamanaka Ino. The Hokage has requested you for the interrogation of Hatake Kakashi,"0 said the man, tossing aside his cloak to expose a half drawn _tanto_.

Gritting his teeth, Konohamaru nearly took a step forward, but Ino raised a steady hand at him, never taking her eyes off the Root agent. "I have a better idea. Why don't you just kiss my – "

Another puff of smoke and another masked figure appeared beside Ino, placing a firm hand on the kunoichi's arm, as if in warning. This one was by far smaller built, female with the ANBU tattoo on her right arm. Her long, blue-black hair fell past her shoulders, and even with the mask, Konohamaru could easily sense she was not very pleased.

"Since when have you started threatening people you are supposed to be handing messages to, Hyou?" Uzuki Yugao asked as she let her arms hang at her sides, shifting her weight on one leg, as if showing she was not at all intimidated.

The man, Hyou, imitated Yugao's stance, letting his cloak flap close on his weapon. "Since we've had it in our best judgment to assume they have a strong possibility to resist, Uzuki."

"Stand down," Yugao warned.

"Yugao-san…" Ino whispered as she unconsciously unclenched her fists and lowered her hands to her lap.

"Yamanaka," the female ANBU said, nodding faintly at Ino before jerking her hidden face towards the Root agent. "Hatake Kakashi is being interrogated today?"

Hyou let out a little snort from under his mask. "That is none of your concern. The Sixth has assigned you far more important tasks than snooping around other people's businesses."

Konohamaru could almost feel the heat blazing between the three, and he knew better than to stick around for the outcome of this conversation. Ebisu-sensei had taught him well not to get in trouble when you could avoid it. He said it was one of the best traits a Hokage could ever have.

He guessed that was one of the reasons why he knew deep down he could never acknowledge this Danzo person to be the one resting his butt on what used to be his grandfather's chair; Danzo emitted an aura of _trouble_. It had taken him a lot of convincing before he was able to swallow the fact that Tsunade-sama had taken over for the Third not a few years ago. Having Danzo take up the position had practically left Konohamaru in denial.

But he was not worried. Naruto onii-chan would come and save the day. He always did.

It was just good timing that Ino shooed him away. "Off with you, Konohamaru. Stay out of trouble. And away from trouble-makers." She narrowed her blue eyes at Hyou.

While in normal circumstances, Konohamaru would have ignored her orders – because that was one of the most precious things he had learned from Naruto himself – but he knew that there were other things he needed to do at the moment. Nodding, he scuttled to the pushcart, tossing his long muffler over one shoulder, lugging the heavy thing loaded with seeds and saplings. When he looked behind him one final time, he saw the Hyou person had disappeared, and Ino and Yugao were talking in hushed whispers, where Konohamaru could make out Hatake Kakashi's name. He wondered why they were talking about Naruto nii-chan's sensei. Surely, they didn't need to whisper…

* * *

The weather had been something she needed to get used to, along with the irritating fingerless gloves she had to wear even when hanging the laundry in the clothesline outside. Another thing she had to get used to was the constant unwelcome wolfberries zooming her way whenever she had to step outside her new abode when summoned to a sick person's house. An inconvenience, but not something she was willing to waste energy over. The Noa girl was very easy to avoid anyway.

When the season had started to change in Gifu, relatively cooler days were welcomed by Sakura with open arms. Especially since her arms had completely healed over the week since she had arrived with Sai in the odd colony in the far western part of the Wind Country. That week had been a whirlwind of introductions and getting-to-know parties held almost every night for three nights, while the days were occupied with browsing over the records the past Healers have left behind concerning the common sicknesses and concerns of Gifu citizens. Along with the reading assignments Sakura had to deal with, she had been required to mingle with the women of the colony to _'learn more of their culture'_.

The population of Gifu was a mere two hundred ninety, almost two-thirds of which were women, most of them older than Sakura by twenty to thirty years. All of them had dark skin and light hair that every time they herded her out of the Healer's Residence, she stood out like a sore thumb, simply because she was small, pale-skinned, and she either wore a hat or a bandanna over her head to hide her hair. The women who were close to Sakura's age bracket had started imitating her choice of hair fashion, wrapping colorful scarves around their own heads. It had amused her to no end, because she had never been the trend-setter back in Konoha. It was something she was glad they did, making her stand out less than she normally would.

Another thing she found quite easy to get used to was the Healer's Residence itself. Once the elder women of Gifu had succeeded in dragging the fiery red-haired girl, Noa, from the Residence (kicking and screaming), Sakura and Sai were able to settle in quite comfortably.

The two-storey house made of mud and rock was, unmistakably, very cool even in the harsh noon sun, and though the nights were freezing, the charming hearth in the first floor was large enough to warm the house that was just too big for two. The first floor was basically used as a sort of clinic, furnished to admit at most five people at a time, small folding cots neatly put away inside a large compartment under the wide staircases. Several large couches made of what looked like gazelle fur were situated in a broad space by the front door, probably a waiting area. The western wall was lined with shelves and shelves of books, while the eastern wall was packed with tall china cabinets and dressers Sakura had raided earlier in the week, discovering small bottles and vials of ointment and herbal medicine. Surgical instruments she wouldn't have expected to find in such a remote colony were neatly wrapped in white pieces of cloth and lined in the upper drawers of the dressers, in the lower ones were boxes and boxes of gauze bandages. The elders told Sakura that there was an abundance of wild cotton plants growing in the southern outskirts of the colony and that she would have to restock her own bandages from time to time, and that they would be more than happy to help her if she needed it.

The second floor of the house was reserved for their main residence, where their little living room was situated in the eastern portion framed with wide windows that welcomed the rising sun early in the morning. Mismatched couches and chairs, also made out of fur of some animal littered the space wonderfully, and a dining table was shoved against a small counter by the living area. The bedroom was one very, very large space that Sakura and Sai had cleanly divided into two with wooden blinds. Sakura didn't mind the lack of privacy; she had spent a lot of time with Sai and Naruto in tents during missions, and the putting up of boundaries was done for mere protocol than luxury. Two cots were arranged on either side of the blinds, that if anyone ever dared invade their private living space, they would merely raise the blinds and make everyone believe they normally always slept together in one big bed.

The only thing Sakura thought to be quite inefficient was that the kitchens and the toilets were not within the house. Right between the living room and their bedroom was a door that led outside to a narrow balcony that housed ever more medicinal herbs. To the left were even narrower staircases that descended to a small hut with a roughly made pit for cooking. Water vats as tall as Sakura herself were aligned by the primitive sink. Next to the hut was a self-contained outhouse made of more rock and mud. Crude urinals which could be easily described as holes on the ground were dug especially for that household. Sakura didn't even bother to ask how they maintained such unsanitary places in a colony of over two-hundred people.

But all in all, the lifestyle was lazy and peaceful.

It was the perfect hiding place for them.

"Looks like she isn't about to give up," Sai said, amused, as he looked out the window of the second floor. The boy had just gotten back from collecting water from the well in the middle of the colony, and his dark hair, which Sakura could only assume was making him suffer from the heat, was matted down his lightly colored cheeks. She wondered why he was back so early. Perhaps it was the heat?

In the days they had been there, Sai had actually acquired tan lines on his arms and neck, and the tip of his nose was peeling considerably. If anything, it suited him, the rugged look. Sakura had always thought him too flawless and elegant for a man.

Sakura, sitting contentedly on the couch as she enjoyed the gentle breeze entering the large windows of their room, absentmindedly nodded as she flipped through the records of the deaths and births of the colony for the past ten years. She had been on it for the past hour, and she was starting to worry about figures written in said book. "Ignore her," she said to him. "She'll get tired eventually."

Sai looked over at her before backing away from the window and shamelessly pulled off his tunic over his head, revealing his still white chest, untouched by the sun. He deposited the clothes in the laundry basket, followed by his fingerless gloves. The two of them had taken to this routine when they knew guests or patients were not coming over sometime in the next few hours. Sakura, too, was more than happy to shed her gloves and strip down to her mesh top and black shorts whenever they were alone.

"She's digging up another hole by the garden and – " he peeked again outside and the corner of his lips twitched upward. " – she's putting something in it that looks suspiciously like camel droppings. That's the third time this week. And you almost stepped on one two days ago."

Sakura felt her cheek twitch irritably at the memory. It had been a _very_ close call. She placed the book down on her lap and gave Sai a dead look. He smiled at her blandly and settled on the chair across her. "I _almost _stepped on one. You, on the other hand, landed your foot right smack on camel poop yesterday."

The smile on Sai's face slid a few notches. "It was quite unpleasant. I had to walk all the way to the well to wash my foot, and there were a fair number of young women who whispered behind my back and laughed at my misfortune while they collected water."

Sakura could only look at him forlornly. Those were probably the same women who had asked her many times if Sai was white _'all over'_. She had nearly blushed at the question and was more than shocked to find herself nodding to them in response. They had giggled and teased her and asked more private questions that no woman in the Fire Country would have asked. It appears that Gifu women were quite open to such conversations about their husbands or boyfriends. One had actually had the nerve to ask her if Sai had soft hands.

And hadn't she forced herself to act embarrassed then? How was she supposed to react to that, anyway?

Picking up her book again, she hid her face behind it and sighed. "What else can you expect from a girl who's been chased out of her home because a couple of foreigners have arrived to take her grandmother's place?"

Noa, according to Tomona, was the granddaughter of one of the most successful Healers in Gifu. While they hadn't been quite keen on sharing the details about said Healer, they were ashamed of Noa's bad behavior. Apparently, the girl was the only reason why they weren't able to keep a Healer in the colony longer than a month. Which Sakura had though strange. Tomona and the rest of the people of Gifu were quite dedicated to this sort of lifestyle they call the _'Teachings of the Wind'_, or the _'Way of the Wind'_, or simply _'The Way'_ to some people.

Well, except for Noa…

Noa was… _different_. It looked like she didn't even care about 'The Way'.

It was the strangest thing Sakura had ever heard, really. The people of Gifu were simply that; pacifists. They do no violence, either out of anger, self-defense or the defense of others. Sakura had supposed violence was unnecessary in a place so remote as Gifu, being so very far away from Shinobi Villages. When Sai had asked them of the security of the colony, they had – _laughed_ – at him for even suggesting such blasphemy to 'The Way'.

"_We do not need security here, Sai-san! Everyone is friends in Gifu! Vigilance is insulting. Now if it pleases you… tea?"_

And hadn't Sai evidently scowled at that. Sakura had practically heard his thoughts; _Perhaps Gifu wasn't such a good hiding place after all…_

But that was the least of things that bothered Sakura. In the past hour she had been reading the records of the death and birth rates of Gifu, she'd discovered that the most common causes of unnatural deaths were either dehydration in long trips to the South for wood, wildlife attacks from poisonous adders, and Hantavirus, a sort of flu carried by some species of deer mouse. The death rates were nothing out of the ordinary.

Except for a certain conspicuously high death toll which coincidentally happened – _six years ago_…

"She's a selfish little brat who wouldn't agree to grow up and let a population of two hundred and ninety live peacefully under their beliefs because she is too wrapped up in her own grief that she thinks she's the only one suffering in the world," Sai said in one long huff, as usual showing as little tact as possible as he leaned back in his chair, flexing his perfectly toned abdominal muscles. "And she handles animal feces. Is that even allowed in Gifu?"

Sakura had no idea how to answer to that as she looked down at the names of the people who had died in a span of two days six years ago. Fifty men, twenty four women, eighteen children. _Children!_

The reason of the deaths was disclosed, only that it had happened.

Sakura waved the file towards Sai, and the Root member accepted it with a curious look. "What do you suppose happened here?" she asked.

Sai's onyx eyes searched the page for a full minute, as if deep in thought before shrugging. "Something that's obviously none of the Healer's business, since it isn't written down," he suggested. "But if you're asking for my opinion, I'd say it was a colony attack."

Sakura's back straightened at what her companion had said. "An attack on an undefended colony?" she asked dubiously. "And what could they possibly gain from assaulting Gifu? Cotton? Olives?"

"_Water_," Sai said simply, closing the book and dropping it on the center table between them. "This is the only source of fresh water leagues away from the Hidden Sand. I won't be surprised if someone tried to claim it for their own."

Sakura nipped at her lower lip thoughtfully before looking out the window just in time to see the little Noa girl dumping – _something_ – into a shallowly dug hole right next to the Aloe Vera in the garden. She made a self-note to dig up camel poop later when it cools. "I guess you're right… but killing ninety four people who wouldn't even defend themselves… And children! I'm willing to gamble they didn't even try to fight back."

"Yes, well," Sai said insensitively, very intent on tracing the tan lines on his arms. "That's how they were raised. I wouldn't be surprised if this Way of the Wind of theirs goes way back generations. It's no wonder their numbers never grow. They're like cattle, waiting to be slaughtered."

Sakura gave him an evil look. Trust Sai in saying such morbid things without meaning it. She rubbed her eyes tiredly. She decided to change the subject. "It's rare for you to be home this early." Lately Sai had taken to helping around the small Olive tree plantation – Sakura had been more than surprised to know they even had a plantation – at the edge of the colony.

Sai was now eyeing her unblinkingly. "The trees don't need too much watering in December, Tomona said. Would you rather have me away?"

Sakura looked up at him and she was a bit taken aback to find his eyes intent on her face. "It doesn't really matter either way. I just wasn't expecting you to be back before noon." Sai usually spent lunch with the men in the plantation while Sakura was busy with the patients when they came over, and fussed over the herbs in the garden when they didn't. Sai normally wouldn't be back until three in the afternoon. "Have you eaten?"

She was not expecting to get a reaction from Sai. The dark-haired boy's eyebrows rose ever so slightly and he tilted his head to the right. "Actually, not yet."

"Would you like something to eat?"

This got another reaction from Sai. This time, he tilted his head to the left. "I suppose eating something you make would be nice, since I wouldn't be able to eat it for at least a few days."

Sakura was in the process of getting up from the couch, and she sat back down. "Are you setting out?" She wasn't informed of this. Then again, anything Sai planned never reached her before it was ready to bite her in the face.

Sai shrugged. "When December comes, the men in Gifu stock up on firewood for the winter. They trade fresh water and olives to the small fishing village south, two days away from here. Tomona told me that I don't have to join them, but I didn't want to be left out. We're leaving tomorrow a few hours before the sun sets. We'll be back in five to seven days."

Sakura did not know what made her feel a bit worried that Sai was going away for a considerable period of time. She may not want to admit it, but she had in fact gotten used to his presence. Perhaps it was because _he_ had gotten used to _her_ presence as well that they had learned to coexist without getting into each others' throats. Everyday in the past week had been a constant routine for them, where they would wake up at around six in the morning, and Sai would head down to their little kitchen to start a fire to boil water while Sakura busied with picking those little potatoes and collect some of the cured meat stocked in the tool shed in the garden. Since both of them were used to roughing it on missions, they were not disappointed with the humble meal Sakura would make for their breakfast, which was eaten in silence back in the house. After breakfast, Sakura would start cleaning up the clinic before eight, and Tomona and the other men would come call Sai to help around with the plantation. Sai would be gone until early afternoon, and when he returned, he always had a fresh stock of plum and a stack of timber under his arm for that night's fire. In the days when no patients came for Sakura's services, the both of them would go out into the garden and – unearth – the poop traps the Noa girl would diligently plant all over the place for them. It was starting to get disturbing, really. Sakura was starting to wonder where Noa was getting the camel droppings from.

Once the colony started to cool, Sai would once again set out to replenish their water supply, and Sakura would accompany him to the well with their laundry. This was the perfect time to catch up on the locals. Unfortunately, for Sai, the locals they had to catch up to were mostly young women who loved to gather around the well at that time. The women of Gifu were unashamed to whisper about men they fancy just as much as they care little about exposing their lovely tan legs to the opposite sex. And hadn't Sai sincerely looked uncomfortable when they started a very alluring dance that included a certain swaying of the hips when the sun hid behind the clouds? Oh yes, hadn't that been amusing indeed?

Nights with Sai, however, were a lot quieter and peaceful for Sakura. The boy would take his sketch book and charcoal or crayons with him to the balcony by sunset and take advantage of the few remaining hours of natural light. He would stay there painting things only he could see while he looked out into the garden, and many times Sakura had to bring an old-fashioned oil lamp when he stubbornly tried to continue his artwork in the darkness. In the end, Sakura would end up joining him in silence on that balcony until one of them decided that it was too cold and that they should turn in. That would be the cue for Sakura to take out the flat bread and tea, and Sai would start a fire in the hearth, and they would eat, once again, in silence.

Living with Sai for the past week wasn't as bad as she thought it would be; it was actually relaxing most of the time. The boy was a natural neat-freak, and he was responsible with the house chores and gave Sakura the privacy she needed, as well as the security of knowledge, which was something she valued greatly in a foreign colony. Perhaps it was because it took more than a strange culture to unnerve Sai that she was more than able to stay level-headed, when deep down inside she wanted to tear at her hair and scream her lungs out.

And that's why Sai leaving for five to seven days disturbed her…

"Can't you come home sooner?" she asked uncertainly, wringing her hands together nervously.

Sai continued to stare at her. "Is there a problem?" he asked after a while.

Sakura opened her mouth, closed it, shook her head. "No. Nothing."

"I could stay. If you wanted me to," he offered. "But I had expected you to want a bit of time alone." He leaned forward in his chair. "Don't you have something important to do?"

This, Sakura knew all too well. Shizune had told her to sign one of the scrolls when she _reached safer grounds_. How do you define _'safer grounds'? _Was Gifu really _safe_? She had kept the scrolls in a bundle of old clothes she found under the cot in her side of the bedroom, and hid it in a loose tile beneath her dresser. She didn't even know if it was safe to take it out. She didn't even know what would happen when she signed it.

"I'd thought you'd be here when I open it," Sakura confessed, scratching a spot behind her ear. It was embarrassing, having to say it out loud to him, after nearly snapping his head off so many times when he'd been so overprotective of her during their journey to Gifu.

And as if reading her mind, Sai looked at her intently, unblinking. "Now that your arms are healed, I'm not worried of leaving you here by yourself. I know well enough that you can defend yourself even more than I can."

And so he says. He was acknowledging her strength. She should be happy.

But she wasn't.

"Yeah," she said feebly. "Okay. I'll get lunch ready, then." Putting on her fingerless gloves she had strategically hung on one of the pegs by the door leading to the balcony, she set off towards the kitchens to boil some water for tea.

And that was when she stepped on it.

Freezing at the very bottom of the steps that led to the kitchen's hut, her left foot had landed on something very mushy and… wet. Sakura closed her eyes, counted to ten. She was not going to lose her patience on the Noa girl. This was what the girl wanted: Sakura to get mad at her and retaliate. It was the perfect reason to start an all out war. She was going to be calm about this, like an adult.

But when she felt several hard objects hit her forehead three consecutive times and found red, sour juices running down her face like blood diluted in water, all common sense flew out the window.

"_Show yourself, you little brat!"_ Sakura screamed as she turned around full circle in search of the little read-haired freak.

Yes, she was going to handle this like an adult. Now all she needed was an exploding kunai…

* * *

Sai had made it to the window just in time to see Sakura get pelted squarely on her forehead with three wolfberries in a row. He knew how that felt. It wasn't enjoyable. But seeing Sakura have a hand at it… _amused _him. It looked like she was frozen for several seconds before she started to shake furiously, and the next moment, she was screaming. Behind the outhouse that served as their toilet, Sai caught some movement. Tilting back to get a better view, he saw a head of messy, red hair bobbing behind some tall cacti. The head hurried off to the rock wall and, in show of probably six years' worth experience, the Noa girl pulled herself over the wall, and in a flash of tan legs beneath hitched skirts, disappeared behind a clump of fig trees.

Sakura was left fuming by the foot of the stairs, her left leg raised a few inches off the ground. Sai blinked, and soon realized what was wrong. Sakura had been booby-trapped.

Taking his time in getting a new tunic from his side of the bedroom, he snatched his fingerless gloves and made his way to Sakura's rescue.

Of course, he hadn't expected her to swallow her pride and admit that she _needed _his help because she had stepped on camel droppings. In fact, she was livid when he offered to carry her to the kitchens to wash her foot with the water in the vats. Nonetheless, she did not protest when he helped her wobble to the kitchen hut and sat her on one of the stools outside it.

"You got a very mushy one. The one I stepped on was pretty solid and it came off like it was nothing," he said.

Sakura was not amused.

Sai sighed. "Would you like me to tell someone about this?" he suggested as he tipped one of the vats to pour water over Sakura's extended foot.

"And what are you expecting them to do about it? Spank her?" Sakura asked tiredly, wincing as she gingerly took off her soiled sandal with the tips of her fingers. She dropped the offending thing on the ground and covered it with sand using her clean toe.

Sai kneeled in front of her and reached for her ankle. She twitched when his fingers touched her skin. He looked up questioningly.

"You don't have to do that," Sakura said hastily, and tried to reach down for her own foot.

Sai frowned, instantly grabbing her wrists. "And touch our food with those hands right after? I'd rather not try to imagine. Let me do this."

And that was when Sakura started blushing. Her eyes were looking down at his hands firmly gripping her wrists. And Sai did not know why, but he too felt his face heating up. While he had gripped Sakura's slender wrists and arms many times on many different occasions, he could not understand why _right now _felt any different; he could _feel _her pulse. It was palpitating fast. Was Gifu's culture getting him to think like the people of the colony?

"Let me go," Sakura commanded.

Sai obeyed quickly,

Sakura looked away. With her embarrassed like this, Sai took the moment as an opportunity to seize her foot and wash it for her. She did not complain, and Sai was content. Sakura making their lunch after touching camel droppings did not sit too well with him.

A few minutes later found the two of them sitting on their dining table with bread and cold tea in front of them. Sai couldn't come up with a good enough topic for conversation, and Sakura herself looked too deep in her own thoughts to initiate one, and so the meal was no different from the regular meals they usually have together.

Except that today, something was… _off_.

And to think Sai usually never notices such _off things_. He decided then and there that _off things_ awakened uncomfortable feelings in him. He finished his bread and sipped his tea. The uncomfortable feeling wouldn't go away.

Sai wiped his mouth with the back of his un-gloved hand. "I could decline the offer. If you want me to," he suggested again. He was not stupid not to notice that Sakura's mood had changed when he'd opened up the water trade plan tomorrow. If he hadn't been Sai, he could have been a bit guilty. But he had said it once before; if it meant having Sakura alive, that was all that matters. The priority was to blend in with the locals. If the men tended to the plantation, Sai would also tend to the plantation. If the men leave for some fishing village for barter, then Sai would go with them for barter.

Unless they find a safer hiding place. Which he doubted they would.

Sakura raised her eyes to meet his, but did not speak at once. She looked like she was thinking of what to say next. She sighed. "What time do you leave tomorrow?"

Sai sat up straighter. Did this mean she was going to let him go without worrying? He did not know how to react to that. Sakura's mood was swinging back and forth in the extremes. "The caravan preparations start a few hours before noon. One hundred water barrels is the quota. The women in the colony will be at the plantation to harvest whatever's available of the olives."

Sakura raised a skeptical brow at him.

"The women in the colony _except_ for the Healer," Sai corrected. When Sakura's eyebrows raised even further, he hurriedly added, "Because you're indispensable. They'd rather have you looking after their children and elderly if and when they need your services."

"I'm honored," Sakura said flatly. "While they prepare for trade, I'll be busy digging up camel dung while I wait for them to '_need'_ me."

Muscles in his left cheek twitched. She was being difficult again. And here he had actually thought her mood had gotten better when her arms had healed. Women were so hard to understand. He wondered if Naruto had the same problems with girls.

Sai paused, shook himself roughly. Naruto was probably even far more clueless than he. Thinking about it made his head ache. He turned back at Sakura. "Are you going to start complaining again? You can just tell me what you want, and we can come up with an agreement and we don't have to spoil the rest of the day for the both of us. All right?"

Sakura's mouth thinned considerably, and she lowered her head. "Do you really want to know?"

If it was going to improve her mood, then yes. He leaned forward. "Tell me."

Sakura leaned forward as well. "I…"

"Yes?"

Sakura scowled. "I'm not going to tell you." She scooped up their plates and stood up, making her way to the balcony and down to the kitchens.

Sai, realizing that she had run away from him, scuttled after her, careful not to step on any more camel dung. "That's very immature. If you want me to stay, you can just swallow your pride and say so, instead of being unreasonably hard to deal with."

"If you want to go, then go!" Sakura unceremoniously dropped the plates into their narrow sink, planted her hands on either side of it and lowered her head. Sai thought that the gesture signaled the beginning of an argument. He patiently waited for her to explode. Much to his surprise, it didn't happen. The kunoichi took a deep breath, her shoulders rising stiffly before she turned around and carelessly gestured a hand at him.

"What is it that keeps you from telling me your plans before executing them, Sai?" she asked tiredly, dropping the hand quickly and giving him a look that came close to surrender. "The least you can do is _inform _me. I'm not going to shoot it down or anything, or tell you otherwise. If you continue to keep secrets like this from me, I'll start to think… " she shook her head, then asked. "Don't you trust me?"

The question surprised Sai. It was not everyday anyone asked for his trust. That was an unfortunate fact for Root Agents. They were just naturally shady people who weren't asked for reciprocation of reliance. Or faith. _Ever_. "I trust you," he said simply.

She looked at him dubiously. "Right. Okay."

This was probably the closest Sai came to being exasperated. Hadn't he explained to her already that there was nothing to discuss between two people who did not concern each others' missions? Didn't she understand this? "I thought that there wasn't any purpose in discussing it. It's a barter expedition."

"I still would have wanted to know," she said.

"That's why I told you today," he pointed out.

"I would have wanted you to tell me on purpose, instead of just _waiting_ for the opportunity for the subject to come up in a conversation!" Sakura countered angrily.

"Stop shouting," Sai crooned.

"I'm not shouting!" She shouted.

And they fell silent. Sakura was breathing heavily, and she looked very cross. Sai tried to think of something smart to say. The only thing he could come up was, "Ah…"

Sakura narrowed her eyes at him, and, in two huge strides, came up a few inches from him. Being a head shorter than he, she grabbed him by the collar of his tunic, pulled him down to level her angry cat eyes to his calm ones. "From now on, you _will_ tell me all your plans beforehand, no matter how petty they may sound, even if it concerns _'just a barter expedition'_. Understand?"

Sai understood pretty well. He just had to ask the next question that popped into his head. "Why?"

And the timing was just so perfect, because at that precise moment, Tomona along with a few of the men of the colony rounded their garden wall. But Sakura was quick. The hand grabbing his collar was instantly on his shoulder and she was lovingly caressing his cheek with hers.

"Because," she hissed in his ear. "I'm entitled to know. _As your fiancée._" She pulled back and gave him a deadly sweet smile before turning to welcome their guests.

Sai could only nod faintly before unconsciously touching his cheek when Sakura hurried off to open the gate to Tomona. The men had come over to ask for medical supplies for the week long journey to the fishing village tomorrow.

Sai did not know why Sakura's threats were easier to take when she was shouting than when she used quiet, almost affectionate tones to get her way. He could vaguely remember reading it in a book Kakashi had lent him about women, where it delved more on how the opposite sex's minds work, and how to play by their rules to skillfully invade their bed. He also remembered that after reading that book, he had thought women to be extremely dangerous and should be avoided at all costs

He just didn't expect to get a first-hand experience on the subject matter. And deep down inside, he felt a bit frightened that he actually preferred Sakura's punches over her smile.

Much to his horror, she had smiled all day after that conversation, as if sensing her smiles made him uneasy. She made dinner _smiling_, washed the dishes _smiling_. It was the first time Sai understood how creepy a fake smile could be. And she smiled all day. Once in a while, she would tap his cheek with the back of her hand passionately that it made the hair at the back of his neck stand on end. In a bad way.

He was glad when the sun started to set and he made his escape to the balcony to paint. When it started to get dark, Sai thought it unnatural for Sakura not to bring him an oil lamp, and he had to admit, he was a bit curious. Looking over his shoulder into the house, he set his sketchbook on the banister, abandoned his crayons on one of the clay pots sitting on the balcony floor, and made his way inside.

Much to his confusion, Sakura was nowhere to be found. He looked out the window and skimmed the garden with hasty eyes. No one was there. Lighting an oil lamp, he headed for the kitchens and toilet outhouse, and found nothing. It made him frown. After having to deal with Sakura demanding him to tell her of his plans, here she was, leaving the house without even telling _him_. Was this some sort of revenge, he wondered?

Going around the garden to make sure Sakura really wasn't hiding there, he entered from the clinic entrance and lit the hearth. The clinic itself was empty, and Sakura had finished up cleaning after the lazy day of patients asking for ointments for insect bites, and as Sai looked around to examine her working place, he found something that he knew should not be there in the first place.

On the Healer's desk, as if haphazardly opened and dropped, was a familiar-looking scroll left unrolled, its end dropping over the side of the desk carelessly. On one of the vertical spaces allotted for calligraphy was unmistakably Sakura's signature, signed in blood.

But Sakura was nowhere to be found.

Sai hurriedly tore through the house, locking the doors and windows in his wake, and returning to the clinic with his week-long forgotten _tanto _at hand. He didn't dare touch the scroll on the desk, so opted to pull one of the low chairs towards the desk and sat himself in front of the scroll.

There was only one thing he can do.

And so he waited.

He just hoped she'd come back before his departure tomorrow…

Little did Sai know that Haruno Sakura had just popped out of nowhere with a puff of smoke in a very, very different place – screaming blooding murder – after having been reverse-summoned by none other than Tsunade's Familiar, Katsuyu, who at the moment was enjoying a very nice hot bath while munching on a very crunchy piece of lettuce.


	7. Plots, Pleas and Noa

**Chapter Seven:**

**Plots, Pleas and Noa**

* * *

One of the problems Hatake Kakashi's had with Team Seven was that they were too stubborn for their own good. Especially Naruto. Yeah… Naruto… Once in a while Sakura had come close to being as back-breaking as Tsunade-sama, but at least she was _reasonable_. But in all the years he had taught Team Seven, he had never been aware that Yamanaka Ino of Team Ten would be even _more_ back-breaking. Asuma must have had a hard time when he was alive.

Ino's left cheek twitched uncomfortably. Kakashi tried very hard to hide behind his book and pretended to concentrate on a non-existent itch on one of his knees. They had been sitting in that dark interrogation room for over an hour already, but Ino had said nothing more than "huh," since then. It was starting to get frustrating, really. He'd wanted to get the better bunk tonight, and no doubt Gai was already warming it with his spandex-clad ass…

Oh, well.

He might as well end this. He snapped his book shut. Ino jumped at his sudden movement.

"What are you planning to do now?" He asked, looking up at her with that one good eye of his.

Ino stiffened evidently when she raised her chin to meet his gaze. "Uhm… " Her eyes started to shift everywhere around the room. "I was hoping you would tell me," she said between clenched teeth. Then, with a desperate sob, she turned to him. "Do something, Kakashi-sensei. I don't know what else to do."

Kakashi's exposed eye narrowed at her, and his finger tapped his book impatiently. "How about this. You interrogate me, Danzo will be pleased, and we go our own merry way."

Ino looked absolutely scandalized. "I… I can't interrogate you! Sakura will – "

This was getting nowhere… Kakashi sighed. "I was the one who helped Naruto and Tsunade-sama escape. There weren't any other people involved. It was _all_ me." Kakashi leaned back in his seat. "I don't know where they are, and I don't think I would be able to tell you even if I _did _know. I was there when Tsunade-sama appointed Sai as Sakura's backup on her mission to smuggle one of the most important scrolls in Medical Ninjutsu history, along with a summoning scroll."

Kakashi saw Ino's blue eyes nearly bulge at the information Kakashi was force-feeding her, and she immediately recoiled further into her chair like a frightened turtle. "I don't want to hear it! That horrible man is going to make me talk, and I just know he won't be happy when he – "

Kakashi raised a finger, silencing Ino almost instantly. Given, Danzo was a son-of-a-bitch. But he was one _smart _son-of-a-bitch. While he could have easily asked one of his little Root cronies who was a Yamanaka, he had instead immediately deducted the fact that Kakashi's possibility of talking in front of someone who he was affiliated with in a personal level was higher. Damn bastard…

"If I don't tell you anything that might prove useful to him, he's going to use that as an excuse to accuse you of insubordination, or worse; _treason_," Kakashi pointed out as he slowly raised his book back to his face and pretended to read. "I had known he would do this eventually. And Danzo knew that I'd catch up to him. That's why _you're _here, and not Ibiki or your father. He purposefully selected someone who wouldn't be able to defend herself if ever I play stubborn. And he knows I wouldn't allow him to touch any of you."

Ino's mouth opened and closed like a fish, her face red with indignation. It was obvious she was frustrated. In the past week, the girl had lost a terrible amount of weight, and if Kakashi was right, he'd guess she hadn't been sleeping well, either. She covered her eyes with one hand, resigned. "I don't know what to do anymore. Shikamaru hasn't been himself lately, and Chouji's been too busy with the Village Defense that I hardly ever see him… Kakashi-sensei… I don't know what else to do…"

Behind his mask, Kakashi pursed his lips. He didn't know what Ino said about Shikamaru _'not being himself'_. He will have to investigate on that when an opening would come. In the meantime, he was worried that Ino would end up breaking amidst the pressure. It was not as if he didn't understand what the girl was feeling. Without Asuma, direction was probably one of the hardest things to pinpoint and while Danzo had effectively split Team Ten apart, Ino's feelings were not at all misplaced. But perhaps, her fears went deeper than that.

Kakashi leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "What do _you _want to do?"

Ino shook her head wordlessly, her face still buried in one hand.

"Do you want to run away?" Kakashi suggested.

Ino hiccupped, and one eye peeked between the cracks of her fingers. "I don't want to stay here. I feel useless here."

Kakashi's eyebrows rose unconsciously. "Why do you feel useless?"

Ino lowered her hand to her lap. "Team Ten is acting like Danzo's lapdogs while the other teams are out there doing… doing…"

"Doing?" Kakashi encouraged.

Annoyed that she couldn't find the perfect thing to describe her feelings, Ino turned away. "I don't know what they're doing, but it can't be worse than staying here."

"Trust me, nothing could be worse than being a missing nin…" Kakashi said dryly as he tapped his book onto his palm. "But anyway, I actually think – _and I mean this _– that it's a blessing to have Team Ten still in the village."

Ino was now looking at him strangely. "Don't start patronizing me…" she said testily.

He did not intend to, anyway. He slung an arm over the back of his chair. "One of these days, _sooner _than later, Danzo is going to find out that Team Eight and Team Nine have defected as well, and he won't be able to keep that a secret from other villages. I'd give it a month, give or take a few days, and Konoha Eleven's faces – minus Team Ten, of course – will be splattered all over Bingo Books of every Hidden Village in the five nations. And I don't think I need to explain to you what that means."

Kakashi believed he had lost Ino at the sudden news of Team Eight and Nine. She was now at a complete loss for words and was trying to make up for it with very aggressive hand gestures. Kakashi dropped his book and grabbed Ino's wrists in an attempt to calm her down. She shuddered under his gaze and was biting down on her lower lip. Kakashi was afraid she was going to burst into tears. He hoped not. Crying women were harder to deal with than angry women.

"Why didn't you become Hokage, dammit!" Ino suddenly demanded. "If you had become Hokage, none of this will be happening! No one had to defect! No one had had to run away! Why didn't you – ?"

"Because I don't have to," Kakashi cut her off gently, giving her wrists a squeeze, commanding her to calm down. "Tsunade-sama will be back. Naruto will make sure of it."

She looked like she wanted to argue more, but her arms slackened and she nodded grudgingly. "I know he will. The Fifth will come back. But until then, what should I do? What should _we_ do?"

A desperate search for direction. Kakashi let go of her, and her hands dropped to her lap lifelessly. This was his chance. Kakashi leaned forward. "I'm going to give you a mission then. And this is something you must _never_ tell Danzo. Alright?"

At the offer of resistance, Ino's face brightened like a candle. She nodded eagerly. "I'll do anything you say."

Kakashi wouldn't have expected any less. "Good. This mission isn't going to be easy. It would be better if you could recruit a teammate who could be easily overlooked by Danzo. Someone who wouldn't stand out. You'd stand out too much if you do it alone."

Ino, unsure if what Kakashi said was a compliment or not, waited for him to continue, eagerness radiating from practically every pore of her body.

Kakashi bent over to pick up the book he'd dropped. With practically every single shinobi Danzo wanted to get his hands on gone from the village, it was time to start raising their defenses around the people he could _still_ start claiming as his own. Sitting up, his one exposed eye meeting Ino's bright blue ones, he gave her a determined nod.

"_Protect Hyuuga Hanabi."_

* * *

He came when she was training all alone in front of their new manor, carrying a huge box with tiny little branches and leaved poking out of it. She recognized him the moment he stepped within the compound with his ridiculously long muffler, that dark, spiky hair and that annoying verbal habit. It was the Third Hokage's grandson, Sarutobi Konohamaru. How could Hyuuga Hanabi not know him when he'd spent majority of his free time running around the village as a naked woman with big breasts when he was determined to escape from his Sensei? Of course in the past three years, he had _somewhat _matured. He'd grown quite a lot, though old habits were hard to lose. Hanabi doubted he'd given up on the naked-girl fetish of his.

"Hello there," he greeted cheerfully, depositing the suspicious-looking box by the steps of the new manor. "I've brought seeds and green stuff to make the village pretty again." Konohamaru straightened up and stared at her directly in the eye; something not many people did with the Hyuuga Heir.

What surprised Hanabi was she found herself looking away first, trying to distract herself with the box the boy had brought with him.

"What are these for?" she asked, unsure if this was how it was to talk to him. She had dedicated majority of her youth training for taking up the title as the Head of the clan, and while most of the children of the village had gone to the Academy to study, Hanabi was entitled to learn the styles of the Hyuuga Gentle-Fist and the _Byakugan_ as a priority. She guessed this was what made her jealous of her sister; Hinata was given the great chance to enter the Academy, make friends and belong to a team.

Konohamaru himself, she believed, must now be a _Genin_, assigned to his own team. The thought made her even more annoyed.

"It's to make everything pretty again," Konohamaru repeated uncertainly, wiping his hands on his trousers and smearing a generous amount of mud and dirt onto them. "It's to make Konoha green again, you know?"

No, she _didn't _know. Hanabi was seldom bothered with trivial things such as _seeds_ and _plants_. Should she say thank you? The boy bringing over such things to her didn't appear to be favors, though. "Is that all you've come here for? If you don't have anything else to say, then please leave." The last thing she wanted was to be sexually harassed by this boy. Her father had warned her that boys, however young they were, were capable of being perverts. She was surprised when she saw him frowning at her.

"You're such a snob, you know?" he said, once again with his verbal habit. "I didn't know Hyuuga _still _had people like you. Hinata nee-chan is very polite. Neji nii-chan isn't as sociable but at least he isn't rude."

Hanabi felt her face heat up at his accusation. She was a _snob?_ Surely not! She… ah… just didn't feel entitled to associate with people she did not particularly like… That didn't make her a _snob!_

She pursed her lips. "I don't think _perverts_ have the right to judge my personality," she said coolly.

Konohamaru, with this comment, was taken aback. "I'm not a pervert."

"Anyone who runs around as a _girl_ with no clothes on is a pervert," Hanabi said airily. "Especially when that _someone_ running around as a girl with no clothes is a _boy._"

Dark eyes flashed and Konohamaru crossed his arms over his chest proudly, looking so unlike someone who had just been insulted. "I'll have you know that it was _Naruto nii-chan _who invented the _Sexy Jutsu_. And last time I checked, Naruto nii-chan's a _hero._"

Hanabi snorted. It was a habit his father had told her to lose because it wasn't becoming for the Heir. "It's not a _Sexy Jutsu_. It's a _Henge Jutsu _used promiscuously."

Konohamaru frowned. "Promiscu – wha…?"

Hanabi mimicked him and crossed her own arms over each other. "Naruto-san is different. He can use that jutsu _because _he's a hero. Which _you _are _not_." She tossed her hair over her shoulder, feeling satisfied for putting the silly boy in his place. Perhaps he'd leave her alone now?

Konohamaru lowered his head, dropping his arms to his side. "I am a _hero_. Naruto-nii told me so. He said… before he disappeared and stuff, he said I'm a hero… and that next time he's going to teach me… teach me how to make a bigger one…"

Hanabi couldn't help but feel her legs automatically back away a step from him. She had heard talks here and there about this boy defeating one of Pain's embodiments that invaded Konoha. It was not as if she didn't believe this boy was capable of great things – he _is _the Honorable Grandson after all – but still, she could not imagine this happening. She cocked her chin forward and wracked her brains for something smart to say. Nothing came to mind. Feeling like and idiot, she turned on her heel and made her way back to her training ground, knocking one of her target posts with one jab of her palm. Perhaps if she ignored the boy, he would go away and leave her be, she thought as she spread her feet into her usual fighting stance, and braced herself for a series of attacks.

"You could have been pretty, but boys would rather have lady-like girls than tomboys like you," Konohamaru said loud enough for Hanabi to hear.

Hanabi missed her target by a centimeter, causing her to teeter forward ungracefully, almost smashing her fist into the manor's east-facing wall. Catching herself, she whirled around to face the horrible boy but was once again caught off-guard with the lack of any witty remarks. Perhaps, it was because the boy had come across a subject she'd never wanted to admit to herself. "I am _not _a tomboy! When I grow up, I'll be like my sister and my mother, and I'll be just as pretty!"

She must not have realized it, her face growing red, because Konohamaru, who looked awfully distressed, had taken a step towards her. "You…! I-I never said you weren't pretty!"

The fact that her mother died soon after she was born may have had something to do with it. Hanabi had always thought she lacked a feminine figure to teach her things that came naturally with little girls – origami, ikebana, traditional Hyuuga dances and the like. It was not as if she didn't like her father teaching her the clan's fighting secrets, as she genuinely enjoys those trainings, but there just were things a father cannot teach a daughter. Hinata was lucky enough to have been able to spend even but a few years with their mother. And look how well it's gotten her.

"You're not going to cry on me, are you? Please don't! Back in the Academy, I made a girl cry once, and Moegi got so mad at me that she started pummeling me until I apologized."

Ah, yes. As if making things even worse, the boy was now emphasizing to her the fact that he had _friends_.

_It would have been nice to have a friend or two…_

But the Heir didn't have much time for friends. She guessed that was why she would always be misunderstood. But come to think of it, Hyuuga were always easy to misunderstand. Perhaps it was because, in reality, Hyuuga believed that the clan came first before the village.

_The clan's honor before anything else. _

At a young age, Hanabi had already been taught the ins and outs of Konoha Politics, though Hyuuga seldom danced along with any of those cutthroats. The Yamanaka and the Nara clan each had a representative in the council. Though Hanabi's father never judged them for laying down their alliances to the village, Hanabi never did hear her father speak too much about it either. Back in the Third's reign, Neji's father and a few others from the clan who were _Jounin_ and _Chuunin_ were asked to assist in the war, but at that time Hiashi had been busy with Hyuuga affairs, what with Hinata and Hanabi's mother seven and half months pregnant with Hinata, and the war reaching its climax.

Hanabi was about to open her mouth to make one final rebuff to the boy, when she felt it.

Of course, Root spies were almost everywhere within and beyond the Village walls for surveillance, and that she had spotted a Root spy here or there more that a few times whenever she tried to extend the range of her _Byakugan_. However, they haven't tried venturing near the manor this close enough for even her to sense.

The presence of more unexpected visitors seemed to have alerted Konohamaru as well, and Hanabi was more than glad that he had the sense to keep quiet about it. For a split-second, their eyes met, and, as if an unspoken agreement passing between them, Konohamaru made the familiar hand seal and two of his clones appeared. They were no sooner disappearing over the roofs of the nearby houses. Hanabi's _Byakugan_ was activated soon enough.

"They've been lurking nearer and nearer the compound lately, but so far they haven't shown their faces around here yet," Hanabi said to Konohamaru almost absently as she detected three Root agents a few meters away to their right. None of them were moving. As if they were waiting for something.

_Something…_

"What do they want?" Konohamaru asked, looking over his shoulder at nothing in particular. He tugged on his long muffler and flipped it over his shoulder as if expecting someone to charge at them any second.

"I don't know." She deactivated her _Byakugan_ and sighed. It had started the day Hinata left the village. There had been this one time when one of those masked men had dropped by and asked his father and her if they had received any news from Neji or Hinata. They told them no, and that was the truth. It seemed that Neji wasn't reporting back to Danzo at all. And it had already been a week.

"You should go. They'll eventually leave when Father arrives. They always do," Hanabi said as she walked over to the box of plants the boy had brought for them. She might as well wet a few of the saplings and ask for one of the servants to plant them tomorrow.

If Hinata were here, she'd have loved to do it herself.

Konohamaru made another hand sign Hanabi recognized as dismissing his clones. "What time does your father come home?"

"In a few hours or so," Hanabi said as she crouched down and peered into the box. She had no idea what these plants' names were. Again, if Hinata were here…

Come to think of it, where _was _Hinata?

"I'm staying then. For a few hours or so…" Konohamaru said jerkily as he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his dirty trousers and turned his back to her.

Hanabi eyed him weirdly, feeling her face heat up for a reason she couldn't understand. "Why?"

Konohamaru sniffed loudly, shrugged. "Because I have nothing better to do."

Hanabi puffed her cheeks indignantly, pride flaring that this boy had to worry about her welfare. "They won't do anything to me, if that's what you mean. If anything happens to me, Father wouldn't be happy. And it wouldn't do the Village any good if father wasn't happy."

Konohamaru sat down on the ground, his back still to her, but Hanabi could see his ears also turning a few shades of pink. "I'm staying." He sniffed again. "You know… 'cause that's what we heroes do and stuff…"

Hanabi had no idea what he meant by that. Deciding to ignore him, she plucked at one of the saplings from inside the box. She felt once again annoyed when she realized she was smirking to herself.

* * *

It wasn't as if she was not used to having slug slime all over her. In fact, there were times when she'd thought that having the gooey substance surrounding her as somewhat relaxing.

Of course that only counted when she was emotionally prepared to get reverse-summoned by Katsuyu. And to think this was her first time.

The Fifth's familiar nearly choked on her lettuce leaf when Sakura suddenly appeared out of nowhere and unceremoniously dropped onto the floor, sprawling gracelessly on her belly.

"You're alive, Sakura-san!" Katsuyu said in that high-pitched, almost always panicky voice of hers as she abandoned her lettuce and started crawling out of that huge bathtub of hers.

Trying to ignore the dull pain that throbbed at her hip, Sakura scrambled on all fours, slipped twice before finally managing to sit up, her legs on either side of her. "Katsuyu-sama," she breathed as respectful as she could while trying not to swallow any slime that was dripping down the side of her face.

"I was so worried. Tsunade-sama told me to summon you here the moment your name appears on the contract. I wasn't expecting for you to take so long… Are you all right?"

It depended on how one would define _'all right'_. Sakura nodded. "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. Uh… Our daring escape from Konoha dragged too long… but we're okay."

Katsuyu bent her very flexible body down, one of her optical tentacles shoving itself so near Sakura's face that Sakura had to back away. "He didn't hurt you, did he?" Katsuyu whispered.

It took a while before Sakura realized who 'he' was. When she finally caught up, she shook her head hurriedly. "Sai? No! He's… " She wracked her brains for a proper explanation without sounding like a kid throwing a tantrum. "He's been all right, if you consider being pampered like a baby all the time all right."

The eye examining Sakura retracted, and Katsuyu looked down at her levelly. "But was he unkind to you? Or did he show any signs of… betraying you?"

Sakura wiped her cheek with the back of her hand, and, a bit embarrassed, shook her head. If anything Sai had been nothing less of a gentleman for the past week they had been together, making sure she was comfortable, that she had everything she needed, and that she was safe. "No… He was never unkind. And no, he didn't look like he'd be betraying me anytime soon…"

"That's wonderful, then. Tsunade-sama has been worried she would lose her bet. And that's not normal for her."

At the mention of the name of her _Shishou_, Sakura felt her heart skip a beat. "How is Tsunade-sama? Is she all right? Is Naruto with her? Where are they?" The questions just kept on tumbling out of her mouth, even though she knew from the look on Katsuyu's face that she wasn't about to enlighten her. She started pushing soggy locks of hair off her forehead self-consciously. She didn't want to be rude in front of the familiar.

"Sakura-san," Katsuyu started. "You know how much I would love to tell you where they are, but it is Tsunade-sama's strict orders not to tell you their whereabouts."

She knew as much.

"Why?" she asked anyway.

Katsuyu tried her best to avoid her gaze. It was not everyday that the slug showed signs of discomfort around her. "Well… "

Sakura could only sigh. She knew what was coming next. Either way, Katsuyu said it for her.

"Tsunade-sama doesn't trust anyone from Root."

It was one of those contradictions in Tsunade's personality that could only make Sakura groan in despair. If she did not trust Sai, then why assign him to assist her in the first place? Was this another one of her 'gambles'? Because if it was…

Her thoughts must have shown on her face, because Katsuyu had the decency to look ashamed.

"He was the only one who answered to Tsunade-sama's summons, Sakura-san. Please understand that we didn't have enough options going on for us that time. With Danzo trailing almost everyone who was loyal to the Third, no one was able to rally to Tsunade-sama in time to save you. Sai, being the only one to have made it, seemed to have raised more suspicion in the Fifth's mind. And, well… he _is _from Root…"

Great. The last thing Sakura needed right now was more doubts planted in her head. Unwittingly, she pushed the negativity out of the way and turned to Katsuyu once more. Tsunade only uses Katsuyu when absolutely necessary, and having the familiar, instead, summon Sakura to… err… where ever she was right now, must mean something was up. She didn't have much time to dilly-dally. She had signed the summoning contract without telling Sai. When he discovers her gone, who knew what he'd end up doing?

_Knowing him, he'd probably be sleeping soundly…_

She didn't know why, but the thought of Sai sleeping in his cot while she was bathed in slug slime made her feel a tad – just a _tad _– annoyed. The fact that Sai also happened to be Tsunade's last resort did not make her feel any better.

Sakura had always known of Tsunade's distrust of Shimura Danzo and the underground foundation he led. In fact, there were many times when she'd thought Tsunade's doubts exceeded more than the older woman allowed herself to admit. The elders backing him up more than they did herself was a big factor for her fears, though she never voiced it out. But after everything that had happened, Sakura knew her master's feelings weren't mere paranoia. Danzo had always wanted the Hokage title.

And look where he is now.

But was this enough to even doubt_ Sai?_

This was not good. She was the one who was starting to get paranoid. Katsuyu looked as if she had caught onto her.

"I didn't mean for you to start distrusting Sai. I just wanted to tell you honestly why Tsunade-sama wouldn't inform you of her location. Know, however, that she's safe, and that Naruto is with her," Katsuyu said, her eyes focused on Sakura. "But before anything else, I summoned you here for a very important reason, and I have to explain everything to you before you return to Sai."

Sakura was immediately attentive. She did not know how Katsuyu was going to send her back, but this was not the time to ask questions. She sat up straighter.

Katsuyu slithered forward slowly. "Once you return to your place, Tsunade-sama wants you to open the other scroll, and master it by heart. And then, you are to destroy it."

Sakura blanched, tried her best not to fall over. Tsunade-sama had been more than uncomfortable discussing the contents of the scroll even with Shizune, and Sakura herself had merely scraped together hints about its contents. Surely, Tsunade didn't mean…? She shook her head in disbelief. "Katsuyu-sama…? I don't quite understand…"

"It contains _jutsu_ even the great Orochimaru himself wanted. Tsunade-sama believes Danzo would make an attempt at claiming its secrets." Katsuyu, whose voice was always calm and pleasant, right now sounded grave. She raised her head a margin. "_It should not fall in their hands_. Do you understand?"

Sakura swallowed hard and nodded weakly. All she could do was agree to her. What else was there for her to do?

But Katsuyu was not done yet. "However – "

Sakura looked up at the familiar nervously. "Huh?"

"Although Tsunade-sama has requested you to master the _jutsu_ in theory, she forbids you to use it. Is that clear? _You shall not use it_."

Sakura's eyes widened, opened her mouth to protest.

"There are no conditions to this. You are allowed to know the theory behind the jutsu, but you _shall not_ release it. Is that understood?"

Sakura felt her mouth lose its ability to spout coherent responses.

"Do you promise? No, you _shall _promise," Katsuyu insisted.

After a while, Sakura finally found her tongue and she choked out a sharp, "Yes."

Katsuyu, after her reply, relaxed, and Sakura saw in the corner of her eye a smaller, palm-sized version of Katsuyu slowly splitting from its bigger form. The tiny slug gave a formal bow to Sakura before it disappeared in a puff of smoke, snapping Sakura out of her reverie.

"Tsunade-sama has summoned a part of me to where she is. This means she has recovered a bit of her chakra enough to communicate through me," Katsuyu said. She was silent for another few seconds before another palm-sized version of her branched out from her body. "Tsunade-sama will now send another part of me to where Sai is in order to reverse-summon you back to him." The second small Katsuyu, too, vanished like the first.

Sakura was well aware of Tsunade-sama's ability to send Katsuyu to any place to deliver a message or chakra reinforcement. There had been several opportunities for Sakura to witness the abilities of the summoning familiar and her efficiency when working with Tsunade. She had dreamed once or twice of being taught by Tsunade herself the summoning technique, but she hadn't expected to have a crash course on the subject.

"Now that you have a contract with me, so long as you have enough chakra to summon me, I will come when you call," Katsuyu said kindly.

Sakura, on the other hand, was skeptical. She had heard from Naruto about his summoning jutsu training, and the _Jinchuuriki _had emphasized more than once how difficult it had been for him to finally summon the Lord Gamabunta. When Sakura pointed this out to Katsuyu, the slug laughed richly.

"Naruto-kun was far younger than you when he started training for the right of blood contract with the Toads of Mount Myoboku. And even then, you, Sakura, had always been far superior than Naruto-kun when it came to chakra control. Another plus to this is that you and I have worked together so many times in the past that we already have a certain chemistry between us." Katsuyu sighed nostalgically. "I remember when Gama-san told me the story of the first time when he was suddenly summoned by Naruto-kun. And oh! Hadn't they hated each others' guts?" She erupted in peals of laughter all over again.

Sakura could only let out a huff, partly from a bit of relief to know that summoning Katsuyu wouldn't be that difficult as Naruto said it would be.

"Ah, the good old days," Katsuyu trailed off wistfully before shaking herself back to reality. "But anyway, you're familiar with the summoning seals, yes?"

Tsunade had lightly run it over her on casual conversation several times in the past. "Maybe," she said.

"Good, good!" Katsuyu said cheerfully, as if not hearing her uncertainty. "Now remember what Tsunade-sama said. And be careful of that boy." She sounded like a mother warning her daughter about her first boyfriend. Sakura could only roll her eyes, and opened her mouth for a slight retort but was suddenly gripped by the horrible sensation of being scooped from time and space as she was once again, reverse-summoned by the palm-sized Katsuyu that had disappeared earlier.

This certainly wasn't her day…

* * *

Sai slammed the front door behind him and staggered back into the warmth of the first floor clinic gratefully. Sakura had been gone for almost an hour already, and the wood in the hearth was almost eaten away completely by the fire. Depositing the armful of timber he had collected from the kitchens outside into the hearth, he busied himself with rekindling.

It was not as if he was being impatient; he knew he was fairly good at waiting. It must be because of the emotion he could define as _worry_. That had to be it. It was getting late, and with the uncertainty of Sakura coming back before he left the colony was making him uneasy. Surely, she wouldn't be gone that long? After all, after having glanced at the scroll she had left lying around in the Healer's desk, there was a possibility that she was summoned away by none other than Katsuyu-sama.

But still… he wondered why he was uneasy about her sudden disappearance.

Successfully reviving the fire, Sai sat back on his haunches and jabbed the timber with the nearby poker absentmindedly. Chewing on his inner cheek out of habit, he replaced the poker by the side of the hearth and straightened up to stand. He might as well do something productive while waiting for her to come back.

He did not know if he had the right to rummage through the drawers in the clinic without Sakura's permission, but nonetheless started plucking several rolls of gauze bandages from the lower portion of the china cabinets. Basic medical supplies would be quite handy for long trips, even if Tomona kept on insisting the western parts of the Land of Wind were as safe as can be. Sai doubted the desert wildlife followed The Way like the people of Gifu.

He piled a few more supplies on the nearest chair and once again got to his feet to collect his pack upstairs, when he ended up staring at piercing green eyes set on a bronze face, framed by messy, flaming red hair.

Noa looked almost as surprised to find him as he was, and the tiny girl – awkwardly crouching on the last three steps of the stairs – looked torn between fleeing to the second floor, and flying at him with bare teeth.

She chose the latter.

With a sharp, piercing battle cry, the girl – surprisingly agile considering the bundled skirts she had raised _way _above her knees – pounced on him like a cat.

Sai's eyes widened as he jumped back, nearly knocking over the chair holding his medical supplies.

The girl was swift. Come to think of it, where did she come from, and how on earth did she manage to sneak in without even alerting Sai of her presence?

The Noa girl scrambled on all fours, wiping her mouth with the back of her sheathed hands. Sai suspected she had bitten her tongue at her sudden attack, but was too proud to even cry out in pain.

"Get out of my grand-mama's house, foreigner!" Noa spat out bitterly as she cautiously wove her way through furniture, never taking her eyes off of Sai, who was equally glaring at the uninvited visitor.

Out of instinct, Sai hadn't even noticed he had procured a kunai from the secret holster he always wore hidden in the folds of his tunic. The last thing he wanted was to have this girl accuse him of violence. This was ironic, because here she was, attacking him, totally unprovoked.

Nevertheless…

"Good evening," Sai greeted slowly, the kunai once again disappearing within his clothes. It was always good to start any encounter with common greetings. Or so he read in a book once upon a time.

Noa hissed a few profanities at him that would have made any Shinobi on a sixteen-hour guard duty proud. She would have had what people could define as a pleasant-sounding voice, if it weren't dripping with venom every time she tried to speak. The last time he'd heard her talk was when they first met, when she had so convincingly demanded they "get out of her grand-mama's property." In the past week, the girl had been diligently setting up poopy traps all over the herb garden like a hobby, and took any opportunity she could get to pelt either him or Sakura with overripe wolfberries. Sai had attempted to ask the villagers several times to find out what drove the girl to hate anyone who became the Healer of the colony, but everyone seemed to be quite uncomfortable talking about anything that concerned Noa.

Sai had started to deduct that subjects that had anything to do with a probable disturbance to Gifu's 'Way of the Wind', was either shot down, or ignored completely. The people of Gifu were professionals when it came to denial. Anything they didn't want to believe or acknowledge were put aside within the category 'Non-existent'. Sai didn't dwell much in the subject, as he seldom cared about such triviality, but now that Noa had deliberately broken into their living space with obvious malicious intent, attacked him when all he ever did was look at her, and was now threatening him with dirty looks like he had killed her pet, he knew that he just couldn't let this pass.

"How did you get in here?" Sai asked, genuinely curious.

Of course, she wasn't about to answer him politely. She leaped a few paces forward, her bare legs flashing with a suspicious agility that could not possibly belong to an ordinary civilian.

"Let's not fight, shall we? Your elders won't be happy if we do." Sai's eyes trailed down to her hands, now clenched into fists. Images of her carrying camel droppings with those hands paraded in his head, making him shudder. Not only was this the first time he'd met a person who was so intent on driving him away, but it was also his first time to meet someone who was so unsanitary.

The Noa girl's hands were now curling and uncurling like an angry crab as she sides-stepped through furniture with a vengeance. Sai started to search his brain for any sort of memory that held _something_ – even for just an _iota_ of a reason – for Noa to hate him this much, but couldn't find one.

He was never one to feel anything before, during and after a battle. But illogically, here he was, backing away from her. It was when he felt his back against one of the china cabinets that he realized he was running away from her. Was this… _fear? _No, not fear. Most definitely not fear.

He looked left, then right, wondering why he had to run away from such a tiny girl who had no _weapon_ and probably no _fighting experience._ Then he remembered her hands, and the fact that she carried around dirty things with it. It was disturbing. Women weren't supposed to do those… At least normal women didn't. He didn't even know why he cared too much about it.

His thoughts were interrupted when Noa abruptly stopped in her tracks.

Sai perked up, his shinobi senses kicking in. Was there something that disturbed the Noa girl from Harassing him? The girl now stood there, wide-eyed, hands raised half-heartedly in front of her.

"Something's coming…" Noa whispered.

He had not idea what she was talking about. After a moment of observing her, Sai actually started to worry. Gathering enough courage to approach her from the side, he decided this was a wonderful opportunity to either tackle and detain her, or to run away. Realizing that if he _did_ decide to run away, there weren't any places he could run _to_, he opted the first choice. Bracing himself to jump her, he was instantly interrupted by a cracking sound, a generous amount of smoke and the small yelping sound of someone falling from a high place. He noticed a second too late, and the next thing he knew, something cold and slimy had dropped onto his head with a gentle _'squish! squish!' _sound, and was now oozing slime down one side of his face.

"Katsuyu-sama?" Sai asked indifferently, as if slugs falling from nowhere was something you saw everyday.

"Sai!" Katsuyu gasped breathlessly as she looked left and right to see where she had landed. "Oh! I'm on top of your head! I'm so sorry! Let me get off of you and – "

"_Desert Basin Leech!" _Noa suddenly screamed from the top of her lungs, and once again, sharp nails flashing and a blur of fiery red hair, she had tackled Sai and was on top of him in an instant, trying her best to claw at his head.

Sai barely managed to keep the girl's hands from a very confused Katsuyu. Noa's knee digging into his ribcage wasn't helping. How such a tiny little girl like her could bring him down onto his back onto the floor with her savagely reaching out to the slug on his head was beyond him. She had knocked several chairs and a couple of cots leaning by the cabinets, showering the gauze bandages he had prepared onto the floor, said objects unrolled across the carpets, crisscrossing over toppled jars of ammonium and surgical tools and clay pots of dittany.

In the commotion Sai still couldn't shake that one curious thing that had occurred just before Katsuyu arrived; it was as if Noa had _predicted _her coming. Grabbing Noa roughly by both her wrists, he decided that he'd had enough playing nice and flipped her over, pinning her arms over her head with one hand, and pressing down on her collarbone with his other forearm. Noa hissed in protest at his sudden show of strength, temporarily unable to move.

Katsuyu's front-side slid over Sai's forehead, and the slug hurriedly climbed back up on the crown of his head. "What is going on? Are you in a battle with this girl?" Her voice was accusing. Sai had read in a book that it was not 'gentlemanly' to fight with a girl. But of course, he didn't need to read that to know that. But then again, he hadn't been completely emotionally prepared to face the fact that there were actually girls like Noa in this world. In retrospect, she was a tiny bit worse than Sakura. At least Sakura didn't play around with camel dung…

"It's going to eat your brain!" Noa wailed crazily as she attempted to move her legs and give Sai a good kick.

Sai winced when her hard sandal caught his shin. He stopped her legs with his knees. "Thank you for caring, but I don't think slugs eat brains."

"No, slugs don't eat brains," Katsuyu seconded, as if to reinforce what Sai had just said. Then, as if on an afterthought, said, "Am I interrupting something?"

Sai, having this pointed out quite bluntly, realized that he was in fact being improper. As far as his knowledge went when it came to the opposite sex, the intimate position they were in were reserved for couples who get along really, really well. He shook his head. Surely, they don't apply to children? "I'd like to venture into that territory with someone one of these days, but with someone preferably within my age bracket, Katsuyu-sama, and not with kids."

This earned him one hefty jerk from the Noa girl, nearly throwing him off her. "Who are you calling a kid? I'm sixteen years old, you stupid foreigner!"

Freezing, Sai blinked down at the girl and for the briefest of moments, their eyes met. Her green eyes, he discovered, weren't as striking as Sakura's, but they held a certain twinkle that could easily have been because of her rage. The fact that this tiny creature was just a year younger than he made him even more confused than ever. She could have been barely thirteen to his eyes. "But you're so small… "

Noa gave him a very dirty look. The twinkle in her eyes changed, and Sai could have assumed he'd struck a chord somewhere, because the ever-present frown on her face suddenly vanished, replaced by something that could have been resentment. It was there for a split-second before the frown returned, and she was spitting out curses and kicking all over again. "Get off me, you creep! Get off me!"

Of course, Sai was not about to oblige, trusting the girl would instantly try to scratch his eyes out once he showed even the slightest sign of weakness. He tightened his grip on her wrists. "What brings you here in the middle of the night, and how did you get in?" he asked softly, trying to ignore the cold slime now dripping down his neck and into the collar of his tunic.

"Kiss my ass!" Noa screamed.

"Oh, dear!" Katsuyu squeaked.

"Thank you, but no. I was never very fond of kissing someone else's ass," Sai said levelly. "Now, I'm going to release you. But only if you promise not to attack. Alright?"

Noa's jaw remained rigid as she stared up at him angrily. She looked as if she was trying to weigh the pros and cons of this deal, and after a few seconds of silence, she nodded grudgingly. And was that a… blush on her cheeks? She was so tan that Sai just couldn't tell. He hoped she wasn't coming down with a fever. Well, of course it would be _entirely _her fault if she got sick, running around all day with dirty things in her hands.

True to his word, he moved to let go. Noa let out a victory yell and tried to slash at his face with clawed fingers. Sai was too fast for her though, and he had her bound back again beneath him.

Sai tilted his head to the side. "You tricked me," he said with interest. He still could not get over the fact that women could trick men so easily with the mere use of a smile, or a tear, or a blush. One of these days, when he had the time, he would like to research about said topic some more. "You're very good."

Noa's eyes narrowed at him. "Are you mocking me?"

"No, no. Not at all," Sai said.

Katsuyu, who was now making her way down his shoulder, cleared her throat. "I hate to interrupt this conversation. I have no idea what you are talking about, really, but I cannot stay long, and I still have some important business to do before I leave."

Once again, Noa fell rigid. She looked over to a spot over by the Healer's desk and swallowed hard.

Sai opened his mouth to say something, but it seemed that Katsuyu really _was_ in a hurry, and before he knew it, there was another puff of smoke, and a coughing Sakura appeared sprawled on all fours, covered in slug slime from head to toe just a few paces away from them by the Healer's desk. At the same time, Katsuyu disappeared from his shoulder.

"You're back," Sai said, an emotion – is that _relief?_ – spreading through his chest at seeing Sakura safe albeit the disturbing amount of gunk covering her all over.

Sakura wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, gave one final cough and looked up to him.

And snarled.

* * *

All men were pigs. That was a fact well proven with the sight of Sai – who was supposed to be her _fiancé_ – straddling an angry-looking Noa, her arms flung over her head restrained by one of Sai's hands. Goddamn pedophile…

With two huge strides, slipping from the sludge under her sandals, she grabbed Sai by the collar of his equally slimy tunic, pulled him off the little girl he was sexually harassing, and with a burst of chakra through her fists, threw him over the wooden center table, splitting it in half. "You…! You _beast!_" She couldn't think of any other creative word other than that, feeling only a tiny bit satisfied at hearing him groan in pain as he tried to sit up while taking care not to stab himself with the tiny splinters poking from the cracked center table.

The temporarily forgotten Noa had scuttled behind the Healer's desk, as if frightened of the fact that there was one other person in Gifu other than herself who was willing to cast away the Teachings of the Wind. It was possible that this kind of violence in such a domestic setting was new to her, but Sakura didn't give a damn. Hands itching, Sakura cracked her knuckles together and reached out to grab Sai by his collar again.

"What did I do?" Sai asked, unadulterated confusion marring his face. He let Sakura drag him up standing.

"Funny, because that's exactly what I wanted to ask you? _What on earth did you do, Sai?_"

Sai calmly tried to peel her grip from him. Sakura shook him violently. He raised his hands in resignation. "She attacked me."

"A _little girl _attacked you? Let me guess. With _berries?_"

"With her bare hands," Sai answered truthfully. "I don't know _how_ she got in here, or _why_ she got in. I was waiting for you to – " he flashed Noa, who was peeking from behind the Healer's desk and glaring at the two of them evilly, an uncertain look. He shook his head, gently took Sakura's wrist and squeezed it meaningfully, jerking his chin slightly to the direction of the girl.

Sakura caught up quick, however. This was not a good time and place to talk. She doubted the people in Gifu would cast them away when they find out they weren't mere civilians, but it didn't hurt to be extra careful, just in case they were prejudice when it came to shinobi. She wondered how much Noa had seen.

Stupid question. The girl had just witnessed a summoning familiar appear from nowhere, and then had purposefully seen Sakura materialize before her without a good enough explanation for it. Pulling Sai closer to her, she whispered in his ear, "Can we let her go after this?"

Sai, whose face was still as blank as ever, as if this was an everyday occurrence to him, shrugged. "I doubt anyone would believe her if she ever said anything about this to anyone." He gave Noa a sideways look, a certain light entering his eyes. "But we might as well use this opportunity to ask her a few questions. I don't think she's an ordinary girl at all."

Sakura narrowed her eyes at Sai. "And you discovered that by jumping on top of her? She's a _child_, for god's sake."

"I didn't jump her. She attacked me from out of nowhere, and I didn't even sense her until it was too late. She also tried to squash Katsuyu-sama, thinking she was a Desert leech, and so I tried to stop her without hurting her. What was surprising was that she knew someone was coming moments before you and Katsuyu-sama arrived," Sai said, then added, "And she's not a child. She's sixteen years old. Same as you. Only feistier. And smaller, I guess."

The revelation made Sakura blanch. She did a double take on the Noa girl, who was now making an attempt to cross the clinic to escape through the front door. Sakura was onto her in a heartbeat, releasing Sai and leaping towards the girl, seizing her by her forearm.

"Let me go, you pink-haired freak!" Noa shrieked as she tried to pry herself away from Sakura's vise-grip.

Sakura, pumping chakra through that one hand, propped her free fist onto her hip and sighed. Sai had the thought that this girl was not _'ordinary._' But come to think of it, was there even a reason for them to care?

_Of course there is. She's been plotting for your life since you came here._

Of course.

Sakura whirled the girl around and poked her on the square of her back to urge her forward. "We're going to have a nice, long talk, you and I."

The Noa girl turned back to face her, her teeth and nails bared for an obvious futile attack. Up close, she wasn't as frightening as Sakura thought she'd be. Even Sai, who had been allegedly attacked by this tiny creature, was now ignoring the two of them and had started picking up overturned furniture and rolling jars and bottles, and setting them back to their proper places.

Sakura jerked her head towards the clinic's waiting area. "Move it. Or do I have to carry you?"

Sensing that she wasn't scaring anybody, Noa lowered her hands to her skirt, but she was still fuming as she turned to sit on one of the large couches in the clinic, where she crossed her arms and legs tightly as she muttered words that would have made even Kakashi-sensei wince.

Sakura rested her forehead in one hand. Something told her this was going to be a very, very long night…

* * *

**A/N: Another very late update. I got too caught up in the post-holiday events.**

**Anyway, time for a disclaimer here: I do not know how the real Hanabi would act in the anime. Putting two and two together, with her growing up practically without a mother figure, I had merely assumed she would not be as feminine or gentle or polite as Hinata, given her father's personality, and since I haven't really seen her talk much in the series, I had always thought her to be a… err.. a brat. If the way I portrayed Hanabi in this chapter offends you in any way, then I apologize.**


	8. Reunions

**Chapter Eight:**

**Reunions**

* * *

Meetings with Danzo were long, boring and very, very uncomfortable for Yamato. Given, the man was not incompetent. Majority of the proposals he had submitted to the elders for approval were, in Yamato's opinion, very well thought out and worthy of praise even from the _Sandaime_, if he were alive. Nothing less to expect from an accomplished strategist and war veteran.

This, however, did not mean Yamato _liked_ the man. One can only go so far into evil, and while ninja did not necessarily exist within the realms of morality, they at least exist within the binds of _honor_. And there was just nothing honorable with pulling the carpets from beneath a weakened Hokage who had just practically offered her life to save the village, and steal her title.

No, Yamato _despised _the man. But still, he just couldn't deny the fact that he was smart, daring and… _different_. It was the first time in decades did the Leaf deviate from the _Shodaime's_ beliefs. Though Danzo's way of thinking differed from the Hokage before him, he was… _efficient_.

In less than half a month, he had revived a village from literal nothingness while simultaneously getting rid of any coups d'états by nipping everything in the bud. This, and the fact that he was able to keep the other villages at bay by simply being, well… _Danzo_.

What Yamato didn't completely understand was why Danzo seemed more than eager to'share'with him his plans, considering he wasn't even in the council.

To Yamato's left stood a very bored-looking Nara Shikaku, arms crossed over his chest, an unpleasant frown on his face. Root agents wearing their masks were nearly invisible within the shadows of the dark office. They were always present in every meeting Danzo held, though Yamato doubted Danzo needed the protection. These Root cronies didn't follow this man for nothing. And other villages didn't stay away out of charity.

Danzo looked up from the thick folder opened in front of him and nodded at Yamato. "Report."

Yamato schooled his face not to wince. It was like Danzo was addressing him like some dog. Sit. Stay. _Report._ He flipped open the file in his hand anyway and skimmed through it quickly. "The Konoha Barrier Tower has finally been reestablished, Hokage-sama," Yamato started. "A team has been arranged, although there was a bit of trouble in that department."

Danzo's face tightened. "Trouble?"

"It took quite a while to convince the Hyuuga to cooperate, but Hiashi-san finally agreed." Yamato looked up. "After I personally agreed to his conditions." This almost made Yamato smile. Danzo hated conditions. "Hiashi-san promised the Hyuuga clan's full support in the village's defense after I gave him my word that the Sixth Hokage will call the Root spies away from the Hyuuga compound and away from his youngest daughter."

It took a while before Danzo could react, which was barely a twitch of his exposed eyebrow. "You… _gave him your word _that I will call my men away from their territory?" he hissed.

Yamato shrugged nonchalantly. "I assumed that the safety of the village is more important than… anything else at the moment."

Once again, Danzo took his time to digest the news, but finally nodded stiffly after a moment. "A small inconvenience."

Shikaku clicked his tongue, obviously in annoyance. "And what does the Sixth Hokage want with a little girl, if I may be so bold to ask?" Nara Shikaku was probably one of the very few who would even dare speak to Danzo like so, knowing that the man thought of him as an 'indispensable asset' to the village.

Danzo's good eye darted to the Nara in displeasure. "If it's for blackmail, or bribery, I shall decide on it. But she could determine what may be a good alliance between the Cloud and the Leaf."

"Surely the Sixth isn't planning on sacrificing one of Konoha's most celebrated _Kekkei Genkai_ simply for an alliance built on lies and deceit that's been there for decades?" Shikaku asked calmly.

"When that time comes, I will make sure that you are the first to know, Nara Shikaku," Danzo muttered.

Shikaku raised one skeptical eyebrow.

Danzo turned away from him, signaling the end of their conversation. "Continue, Yamato."

Yamato sighed. "The Academy, the water towers, the quarries and the warehouses are back under commission. With donations from Suna and trade reopened, we might be able to make it to the quota for this winter's food rations."

This made Danzo nod in appreciation. "Good work, Yamato."

"I had absolutely nothing to do with it, sir," Yamato said dryly, flipping through the file in his hand. "The credit goes to the Aburame and the Inuzuka. With those two clans working day and night through heavy shifts, the village won't be starving." He snapped the file shut. "As opposed to your assumptions."

Another one of Danzo's great strategies. It seemed like everyone was searching desperately for every possible excuse to rebel against him. It was amusing, really. Yesterday Danzo had declared that all _Jounin_ were to be given a paid leave for two days to rest after the restoration. Today, when Yamato had set off to scout the parameter of the village, every single Jounin was either on patrol, or helping civilians with everyday chores they normally could do by themselves.

A grin tugged at Danzo's tight lips before he turned his back to Yamato and Shikaku, as if to hide the satisfied expression on his face. "And the civilians?"

"Relocations are scheduled to be completed within the next three hours. The Sand Ambassador along with her party is making the relocation progress twice as efficient." Yamato eyed the Sixth warily. "It's also a must to thank the Fifth Kazekage. I think we owe Gaara of the Sand at least a notification of the progress of the restoration."

"Of course. When the Sand Ambassador finds it convenient, I would like to see her," Danzo said slowly.

"And this would be on an over-dinner basis?" Shikaku asked sarcastically.

Danzo shrugged his stiff shoulders, then after a moment turned to face them. "Now that you've mentioned it, dinner with the Sand Ambassador sounds wonderful."

Shikaku's eyes bulged.

Yamato nodded as if Danzo hadn't just said something he normally wouldn't say. "Then Shizune should be informed of preparing a banquet for seven."

"Eight, if you please," Danzo corrected. "Along with Temari's party, a seat for Nara Shikamaru is required."

The suggestion seemed to have surprised Shikaku. "What does my son have to do with – "

"Quite a lot, Nara Shikaku. As the Konoha Ambassador, quite a lot. You will be informed once the meeting – "

" – Dinner," Shikaku injected.

" – Yes, once the dinner is over."

Yamato tried to roll what Danzo had just said around in his head when the door opened and Shizune walked in.

And Yamato's jaw nearly dropped to the ground.

Shizune, who had always been seen clad in a black yukata with long billowy sleeves, was now wrapped in a flimsy white tunic that reached a few inches above her knees. Her pale, thin arms were exposed. Yamato hadn't taken Danzo to be a dirty, old pervert, but…

"It was out of pure coincidence that poison needles shot out of her yukata's sleeves and nearly impaled my forehead," Danzo explained without being asked as he gestured for the dark-haired woman to come forward.

Shizune reddened, and she tried to hide her face when Yamato made to meet her eye, his brain almost ready to explode. Shizune had tried to _assassinate_ the Sixth? _Why_ and _how_ she managed to stay alive after that was beyond him. Or was it? Now that Tsunade and Sakura were gone from the village, the only medic to be reckoned with was Shizune. Danzo was not stupid to dispose of her when he's never really considered her to be much of a threat.

"You summoned?" Shizune asked, bowing jerkily.

"Tell the servants there is a change of plans for tonight's dinner," Danzo said, addressing Shizune.

Yamato's eyebrows rose evidently. "_Servants_, Hokage-sama?" The last time he's checked, the tower didn't have – and didn't _need_ – servants.

Danzo gave Yamato that one-eyed stare. "Yes, Yamato. _Servants_."

_A wonderful man indeed_, Yamato thought. Only Danzo could have been smart enough to provide employment for the citizens of a village that had lost almost everything it had. No doubt the man must be taking out the wages from his own savings what with the Leaf's own funds dwindling from the reconstructions. War veterans were always very rich from their pensions. Well, maybe except Tsunade, who was just _poor _from all that gambling after the war.

Shizune, still obviously unaccustomed with all the skin she had exposed, rubbed her bare arms self-consciously. "Changes for tonight, Hokage-sama?" she asked coldly.

Yamato groaned inwardly. Couldn't Shizune try to at least _act_ meek and obedient? Sure, Danzo wasn't about to kill her off, but it didn't help pushing her luck.

"The Aburame have brought back quite a generous amount of game from their hunt and I would like to share it with the Sand representative and her party as a show of appreciation for their help on the restoration. Prepare a table for eight in one of the main _Wa_ Cloisters and make sure to have the cooks – " _Cooks? _" – prepare a small but decent feast in honor of the alliance between the Sand and the Leaf."

A muscle somewhere beneath Shizune's left eye twitched, but the woman bowed her head in acknowledgment. "As the Hokage-sama wishes." And she moved to leave stiffly.

Unconsciously, Yamato moved as if to go after her. Catching himself a second short of having Danzo notice, he straightened and snapped the report in his hand closed. "The report ends here, Hokage-sama."

Shizune's eyes narrowed at Yamato before she swiftly left the room, closing the door behind her.

Danzo nodded, "Thank you for your hard work, Yamato. You may also be dismissed. I am looking forward to the report on the civilian relocations within the day."

"Yes, sir," Yamato said quickly, gave a hasty and very clumsy bow, and ignored the betrayed look on Shikaku's face when Yamato practically ran to the door.

Yamato gently closed the door behind him and looked around quickly. He was just in time to see Shizune round the corner of the hallway, obviously on her way to the kitchens. Tucking the file into one of the pockets of his flak jacket, he dashed after her.

"Shizune!" Yamato called after her.

Shizune paused for a moment, looked over her shoulder and when she saw who was chasing her, continued on her way as if nothing happened. If anything, she was walking faster away.

Yamato jogged after her, confused. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought she was ignoring him. "Shizune!" he called again.

The woman shook a fist over her head. "Don't come here!" she snapped, continuing to walk away.

"Don't – ? What's going on?" Yamato demanded, finally catching up to her. He grabbed at her bare arm.

Shizune shrugged his grip away and whirled around to face him. Her dark eyes were wild and she was breathing heavily. "What do you want from me?"

Yamato had to back away from her a step; the aura she was projecting could have scalded him if he stood too close. The resolve he had in him on scolding her about recklessness melted completely when the wild look in her eyes vanished, replaced by pure and utter confusion. "I don't want anything…" he said lamely. "I just wanted to ask how you were."

Shizune's confused look immediately turned bland. "You wanted to ask _how I was?"_ she said flatly.

"Well, yes actually. Everything about the restoration had everyone caught up in at least three or four things and aside from Kakashi-senpai, I wasn't – "

"I'm fine," Shizune cut him off, her shoulders stiffening and once again she rubbed her arms, annoyed. "You don't have to worry about me."

Yamato frowned deeply. "How can I not worry when Danzo just declared that you tried to kill him with senbon? Do you want to die?"

Shizune's face fell before she looked away from him. "I was careless."

"You were _reckless_. You knew better than to resist this man, Shizune," Yamato hissed quietly, and he looked left and right, making sure they were alone. "You shouldn't have stayed. You should have left with Tsunade-sama and Naruto when you had the chance."

Shizune's dark eyes turned back towards him, and she was silent for a few seconds before shaking her head. "I had wanted to. _So very badly_. But she wouldn't let me."

"Tsunade-sama?"

She nodded. "She wanted to me to stay. She said she needed someone she could trust within Konoha, and there was nothing I could do."

"You could _stay alive_, for one thing. Tsunade-sama wanted you to be here for a reason, so you should be careful." Yamato looked down at Shizune, wanting to throw his flak jacket around her shoulders to save her the embarrassment of being dressed as such. "Or things could get worse. Worse than getting stuffed in that tunic."

She gasped, her arms instantly wrapping themselves around her chest. "I didn't know you were capable of being a pervert."

Yamato found one of his eyebrows once again rising at her accusation. Of course, being a man Yamato had never denied himself at appreciating the opposite sex, though honestly hadn't given himself the opportunity to look at Shizune as a person belonging to that group before. She had always just been… well… _Shizune_. But with her now desperately trying to cover herself, perhaps it was also the first time she, too, had just realized she was female. Yamato hastily looked away, feeling uncomfortable. "I'm not being perverted. I'm just stating the fact." This conversation was not going too well.

"I don't care," Shizune said quietly, making Yamato look at her again. She had now let her arms dangle at her sides, her face hiding behind her dark hair. "That man can strip me down to my underwear and he still won't strip me of my loyalty to Tsunade-sama."

Yamato sighed, shaking his head in frustration. "Fine. Let me see what that loyalty will do for you or for the village when you're _dead_. "

And the words were no sooner out of his mouth when the guilt hit him like a ton of bricks. Shizune's lips quivered, and while she did not break down crying, she most certainly looked like she was about to. "I'm not going to die! I'm not giving up!" she said loudly. And with the way she was talking, Yamato was certain that her talents were the only things that were keeping Danzo from silencing her for good. At least that was something he didn't need to worry himself with.

"Just be careful. All right?"

Shizune stared at him angrily for a full minute before she whirled on her heel and stormed off into the direction of the kitchens.

Yamato could only watch her go, rubbing behind his neck in frustration. At least she wasn't depressed. Keeping the fire in her would help her a lot. Yamato hoped she just didn't push Danzo too far.

But just in case…

Yamato found himself smiling when he sensed his tracking seeds attaching themselves within the small cracks on the soles of Shizune's sandals as she rounded the corner of the hallway.

Better safe than sorry.

* * *

Aburame Shino had the tendency to sulk on occasions. There were times, even, when he'd throw miniature tantrums which would be ignored or simply go unnoticed by his friends in the end. On occasion, Aburame Shino would complain to himself. But there was one thing he just didn't do.

And that was to complain out loud.

"It stinks, it's hot and it's humid. Doesn't the Rain Country even _have _winter?" Kiba growled for the third time within that hour as their three-man-cell – plus Akamaru – trudged through the swamps surrounding Rain country.

Hinata, who had her long dark hair pulled back in a loose bun at the base of her neck, adjusted the collar of her jacket and pulled its zipper down a few inches from her chest, revealing the dark mesh shirt she had underneath. She sighed after deactivating her _Byakugan_. "Whatever trail Naruto-kun and Tsunade-sama left behind are weeks old. It would be hard to track them down…"

Shino could sense the frustration in the Hyuuga's voice as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. And when Hinata was frustrated, it would not take long before she started blaming herself with whatever was lacking in her abilities.

"If only I were stronger… If only my _Byakugan's _range was wider… "And there she went.

After she's done making herself feel bad, she would start to panic.

"What if… what if we don't find them? What if… what if Naruto-kun doesn't _want_ to be found?" And there she went again.

Shino, by pattern, would simply listen to her, and Kiba, by pattern, would take this opportunity to try and cheer her up.

"Naruto sucks at stealth. He wears a freaking orange outfit that can't possibly blend with any natural background. We'll find him, Hinata," Kiba said, managing to insult Naruto while making it seem like words of comfort.

He was rewarded with a small smile from Hinata. "You're right, Kiba. We'll find him eventually."

And with Hinata's mood considerably brighter, Kiba was once again back to complaining. "Stupid, _stupid _humidity… " Akamaru whined pitifully at him.

No, Shino never complained out loud. But at that moment, he came close to doing so when Kiba started with his. The Inuzuka was never famous for his patience, more so his tolerance. But Shino did not blame him. They were tired. After having searched Waterfall Country for five days and Grass Country for three and a half, they were starting to get desperate. It was not hard to avoid the number of messenger falcons Konoha had sent to deliver summons or simple messages to them, but there were times when they had to be extra careful when crossing the border from one country to another. Root spies were crawling everywhere.

On their next water break Shino found himself scanning his surroundings from behind his dark-tinted glasses. The moment his team crossed the border to the Land of Rain, Shino had sent his scouts to several different directions within the swamp, and while the wildlife there was basically harmless, there was this unknown – _thing _– preventing his _Kikaichu _from entering a certain parameter that Should could only assume as the Hidden Rain. His instincts were screaming for him to go straight to that place but common sense told him otherwise. There was a fifty-fifty chance that Uzumaki Naruto would be there, but the odds were against them, and the territory was new. Little was known of the Hidden Rain, and Shino had heard that even the great Jiraiya had had a hard time infiltrating it.

By the time darkness fell, they had managed to reach a small village that although was not that welcoming to a suspicious Shino who wore shades even at night, a wild-looking Kiba and his humongous dog, and a timid Hinata with her white eyes, was at least kind enough to let them have warm tea and pork buns at a small _yatai_.

And by the time they were rested, it had begun to rain.

Kiba sniffed the air conspicuously and frowned. "Dang it. Now we have to search while getting drenched." Akamaru was now wistfully licking his fur and ignoring Kiba completely.

Shino rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly. It was not that he hated getting wet, but he didn't think he could stand any more of Kiba's rants.

"Hey," Hinata suddenly said, and Shino looked up to see her leaning at something pegged to the narrow wall of the _yatai_.

Kiba hurried over to her to see what had caught her attention. "Heh. What is that?"

Shino stood up and walked over to them. He was unimpressed when he saw that the object that had caught Hinata's attention was a mere origami in the shape of an angel. The only thing Shino thought amazing about it was that it still looked quite crisp and new, even in this humidity.

"It looks like some sort of… eh?" Kiba frowned. "A gnome of some sort?"

Shino grimaced. Trust Kiba to slander a work of art in a matter of seconds. Whoever thought of a gnome with wings? "Do you know what I think it is? I think it's an angel," he pointed out.

Hinata nodded vaguely. "I agree. I wonder what its doing here?"

Of course, a paper angel could only hold ones attention for so long. They were back to finishing their pork buns and tea. After paying the shop owner for their meal, they decided not to waste time and continue in their search even in the downpour, much to Kiba's annoyance.

Taking slickers from their packs and throwing their hoods over their shoulders, Team Eight pushed out the flap of the yatai only to have something big, loud and orange drop down onto them, tackling Hinata to the ground. The Hyuuga let out a strangled yell, but was powerless against her attacker.

"An ambush!" Kiba exclaimed as he leaped away on all fours and settled on the back of a growling Akamaru, claws and fangs unsheathed.

Shino could only shake his head as he stared at the heap of limbs tangled in robes right before him. He had known Naruto since the Academy days, and had always watched in the sidelines his growth into what he had become now.

And so he wondered when the Uzumaki had learned how to completely erase his chakra from them even when they were this close to him.

"Hinata!" Naruto exclaimed as he gripped the Hyuuga on either shoulder and shook her happily. "Am I glad to see you!"

Hinata could only blink her wide eyes at the boy.

Kiba, realizing it was not an ambush, cursed under his breath and relaxed, Akamaru barking happily. "Where on earth did _you _come from?"

Naruto looked over his shoulder. "Kiba! Akamaru! I came from there." He pointed at the roof of the _yatai_, then grinned his toothy grin. "Konan said there were people from the Leaf who were close by, but I wasn't sure if they were friend or foe so I came to check."

A deep growl sounded loudly from Kiba's chest. "We were looking for you everywhere, and here you drop in on us without us even a freaking warning. How on earth did you manage to surprise us?"

Naruto's grin widened. "I'll explain when we get to a safer place to talk." He turned to the girl he was crushing underneath him. "Let's go, Hinata. Hinata?"

Shino was observing the events unfold in front of him. Hinata, being Hinata, had fainted at the mere proximity of the _Jinchuuriki_. Red in the face and knocked out cold, the Hyuuga could only utter a few incoherent words as Naruto shook her some more.

"Sheesh… Why does this always have to happen when you're around?" Kiba muttered in frustration as he helped Naruto pick the Hyuuga up and load her on a whining Akamaru.

Shino opened his mouth to speak.

"I have no idea. But come on. We have to get out of this rain. I have so many things to tell you guys. And you have to tell me about Konoha," Naruto said, and without further ado, led the way through the downpour with Kiba walking beside him, Akamaru carrying the fainted Hinata and following closely behind the two.

Shino snapped his mouth shut. It was when Kiba and Naruto had rounded the curb that Shino narrowed his eyes from behind his sunglasses and realized that he had again been – as he always was – ignored.

It was a good thing that Aburame Shino did not complain out loud. He will have to sulk about it later, though, if there was time to do so.

* * *

The desert between Gifu and the Fishing Village of Nikoro was an expanse of flat terrain dotted with the occasional hill and cacti that came handy for caravans with the need to replenish their water supply. And with the two and a half day trek for trade, Sai was grateful that there was more to see than just sand. He had taken advantage of the water breaks to sketch by day, and used his nights to oil his secret stash of kunai while the trade party he accompanied slept. And wasn't he grateful to have brought that secret stash with him? One look at Nikoro and Sai had instantly known the reason why the people of Gifu traded with the Fishing Village only once a year; the locals didn't look too happy to see outsiders.

Nikoro was about twice as large as Gifu, the population about five times more. Since the village was sandwiched by a two-day desert away from fresh water and the open sea, Sai was not surprised to find the people there quite adjusted to the rough environment. Madrone trees and Shore Pine lined the area strategically, as if intentionally planted there to shelter the small, squat houses in the crooked rows by the narrow alleys snaking within the village.

The differences didn't end there. While Gifu's people loved gatherings, celebrations, gossip and the occasional chitchat, the inhabitants of Nikoro were more withdrawn. And even that could have been an understatement.

Men were, first off, nowhere to be seen, most probably still down by the sea. The women the trading party was able to spot had instantly gathered their children, hurried inside their humble wooden houses and shut their doors. Some of the herded children were brave enough to peek through their windows, but were instantly scolded and told to close the curtains.

The only one who had the decency to face them was a man in his mid forties named Nagali. He didn't introduce himself properly so Sai didn't really know what he was to Nikoro. Tomona explained that he was the head fisherman, or something of the like. And though Sai had given the man his biggest smile, the sour look on Nagali's sun-darkened face didn't disappear. And Sai didn't miss the fact how the man's hand had strayed to the dagger tucked under his belt when Tomona motioned for his men to unload the water barrels from the wagons. Sai had hung back watching him from under his floppy hat while pretending to scan the ocean from where he stood a few feet away. There were times when Sai actually thought Nagali was going to pull his weapon out, but he never did.

But that was when Sai really realized that the people of Gifu weren't simply pacifists; they had _absolutely_ no sense of danger. While Nagali was eyeing them with greedy little eyes, Tomona and the rest of the men were humming the tune they always sang when working in the olive plantations back in Gifu.

Pulling down the floppy hat lower over his face and squatting down by the shade of a tall cactus, Sai hadn't even realized when he'd actually started acting as the self-proclaimed bodyguard for the party, and though he was doing it out of duty and not out of goodwill, he cannot help but feel an emotion he's never felt even when dealing with ninja; frustration. Normally, shinobi existed to kill or be killed. And though Sai had been around civilians to whom self-preservation came as second nature, Tomona's people didn't seem to care if they get killed or not. Worse yet, they didn't even want to accept that a _possibility_ of getting killed existed within their part of their desert.

Sai instantly stood up sharply when he saw Nagali abruptly plunged his hand into his billowy robes. Sai was about to pull out a kunai from under his tunic when he was beaten to it by a blur of red hair and tan legs.

"Don't even try anything dirty, old man!" Noa screeched as she swung her arms violently towards Nagali. Much to Nagali's misfortune, Noa was armed with the trade party's heavy frying pan. The cooking utensil landed on Nagali's unsuspecting head with a loud 'gong!', and the man crumpled into the sand in one messy heap, groaning. From his robes fell a heavy bag of what appeared to be ryo.

Tomona and his men froze in pure, unmasked horror as Nagali struggled to get up, spitting profanities as he clumsily gathered the bag of money and stuffed it back into his robes. "Haven't I told you to stop bringing that girl along?"

Noa, not looking at all guilty for hitting an old man on the head with a frying pan, stuck her tongue out at Nagali and for some reason took her refuge behind Sai.

Genuinely unsure of what to do next, Sai blinked, looked over his shoulder at the tiny girl hiding behind him and frowned. "Are you using me as a shield?"

Noa's piercing green eyes met Sai's dark ones and she instantly looked away, face red, but didn't say anything.

Tomona was now apologizing profusely to Nagali, telling him that Noa didn't mean it – which was most likely a lie – and that they didn't necessarily bring her along, but she insisted on coming for some reason – which was the truth.

Of course, Sai didn't entirely understand what was going on. It looked like this wasn't the first time Nagali had had an encounter with the Noa girl, and something told Sai that those encounters weren't good ones. Nagali kept on giving Noa evil glares and Noa shrank even smaller behind Sai, gripping the sleeve of his tunic with her small fists.

And that was how it flowed for the next two days' trade with Nikoro. Majority of the day was reserved for gathering lumber, seaweed and dried fish, simultaneously done with unloading the wagons of Plum, Olives and water barrels. It should not have taken such long a time, but the locals of Nikoro weren't very trusting people, so every water barrel had to be opened to be checked if water really was in it. Olive and plum crates were treated the same.

The inefficiency of it all was doubled because of Noa, who insisted on attacking every single man, woman or child from Nikoro who even so much as brought a nail file near their caravan. The way Noa treated Nikoro locals like backstabbing murderers only thickened the distrust and what could have taken a mere day of labor took twice as long.

It tested Tomona's oath of non-violence, as well as Sai's patience.

By the middle of the second day, Tomona's patience ran out first and begged Sai to do something about it because Noa "listened to him." Sai didn't know how Tomona had deducted that out of the whole equation, but had complied anyway.

The moment he had asked the girl to walk with him to see the beach, she had blushed furiously, nodded her head and followed him like a lost puppy dog all around the fishing village.

Sai was uncomfortable the whole time.

While Noa's unprovoked violence had somehow lessened at a certain degree, Sai had found her meekness equally disturbing.

And he blamed _everything _on Sakura.

That fateful night before Sai left for Nikoro, that fateful night when Noa had invaded their house while he least expected it, that fateful night when Sakura disappeared, then reappeared covered in slug slime…

Oh, yes. Hadn't Sakura conveniently sat Noa on their couch to interrogate her about the reasons why she was so hostile towards them? And while Sai had been diligently picking the house up from Noa's attack, Sakura had hovered over Noa like a little pink storm cloud in a bad mood. She was straight and to the point.

"What do you want?" Sakura had asked, managing to look menacing even while covered in gunk.

Noa, who didn't necessarily look intimidated, but was likely winded with the way Sakura was looking at her, tried to distract herself by wringing her fingers together.

Sakura looked like she was having a hard time trying not to strangle the small girl, and, succeeding in reigning in her wrath, knelt down by Noa's knees and said, "Look here. We don't know how long we have to stay in your colony. As much as possible, I didn't want to invade your space by taking over your grandmother's job. But I am doing my best for your people, so we have to learn to coexist in the duration of our stay. In order to do that, you need to cooperate with me so we can come up with a compromise. Do you understand?"

Of course, Noa being Noa, took quite a while before she could understand. It took one of Sakura's best hurry-up-and-die glares before Noa finally huffed in surrender, but Sakura wasn't able to get anything from the girl except for the promise of stopping her harassment with camel droppings and wolf berries.

And that was when the Noa girl started asking questions. Many, many questions.

About Sai, that is.

"_I saw him take out a weapon from his clothes. Why is he carrying weapons in his clothes?"_

"_He moves like a cat. As in quick, and quiet. How does he move like that?"_

"_There's something wrong with his mouth. Why does he keep on smiling on anything when there isn't anything funny or interesting?"_

Questions a normal girl wouldn't have minded. It had convinced Sai and Sakura that Noa was not a normal girl. One, she was agile than the average civilian. Two, she was observant. And three, she seemed to be aware – too aware – of chakra that radiated anywhere near her.

And though Sai and Sakura had suspected this, they didn't bother to ask. Because they did not want to answer _her_ questions.

In return, Noa had insisted on gluing herself to Sai's side.

It was that moment on their fourth day in the beach before the sun disappeared from behind the mountains that Noa showed any sign of wanting to be civil with him. Sai was sitting on a flat rock a few feet away from the water having his early dinner when he discovered he was not alone.

"Are you hungry?" Sai asked as he looked up from the beef jerky in his hand when he sensed Noa looking at him from behind a cactus.

The girl reminded him of a frightened wild animal wanting to be tamed.

_Or a tamed animal wanting to be free. _

Sai held out the hand with the beef jerky and the girl slowly crept away from the cactus. She settled beside Sai on his rock and tentatively took the piece of dried meat from the Root member. She gobbled it up in a matter of seconds.

"Thank you," she muttered quietly as she licked her fingers clean. She didn't say anything after that, but settled with pulling her legs to her chest and hugging them with her lithe arms.

Sai watched her all the while, a part of him getting ready to block any attack she may send flying towards him. He was surprised when she just sat there, looking out into the darkening horizon beyond the sea. Deciding he could relax, he leaned back on the rock and followed her gaze. He tried to ignore the itch developing at the back of his neck. After having been exposed in the harsh noon sun earlier in the day, he knew he was down for sunburn. He touched the nape of his neck gingerly. He never really considered himself too sensitive when it came to roughing it, but being a shinobi required him to move mostly in the darkness of night and not in the smoldering heat of a desert. The Fire Country was almost always relatively cool. He had thought he'd gotten quite used to the weather of the desert, but there were moments when he would forget not to take his new environment lightly. He would have to make sure to carry an extra shawl in the noontime tomorrow.

He peered down to his left when he felt something poking his arm. Noa was shoving a small jar of something to him, her face red as a wolf berry. "Here," she said.

Sai looked down at the jar a moment, juggling in his head the possibility of it being another trap from the girl. When his common-sense told him otherwise, he took the jar from her and gave it a little shake. The reddish-green, oil-like substance swirled around the container, and Sai wrinkled his nose. "What is it?"

Noa bit her lower lip. "Pumpkin seed oil… For your sunburn… "

Sai shook the bottle again. "You didn't put anything that can harm me in any way, right?"

Noa cursed under her breath and tried to snatch the bottle back, but Sai was too quick for her and held it away from her.

"If you don't want it, then give it back, idiot," she snarled at him as she tried to reach for it.

"I didn't say I didn't want it. I was just asking." He ushered her back to her place on the rock and opened the jar when she finally calmed down. Sniffing the contents conspicuously, he was surprised to find that it smelled quite pleasant. "Will this cure me?"

Noa hid her face in her knees. "Pumpkin seed oil has vitamin E. It soothes sunburns… "

Sai dipped a finger into the oil and rubbed it on the nape of his neck. While he didn't feel anything soothing about it, he didn't say anything. It looked like a single word could spark Noa's anger if she didn't find it amusing. "Did you make this yourself?"

She didn't say anything for a while, and was intent on hiding her face from him. Sai helped himself to more of the oil before closing the lid and handing it back to her. She ignored him altogether, so Sai placed the jar on the space between them.

"Thank you," was all he could think of saying.

That was when she looked up at him, those green eyes of hers observing him as if seeing him for the first time. "My grand-mama taught me how to make them. There are wild pumpkin patches in the colony and we used to gather the seeds for medicine. That was when she was still alive." She picked up the jar of pumpkin seed oil, and it disappeared within the folds of her robes. She stretched her exposed legs in front of her and rubbed her dirty knees with her gloved hands.

"She was a Healer, wasn't she?" Sai asked, this time his turn to look away. He wondered how the women of Gifu could bare their legs in front of men so easily.

"She was the best Healer, ever!" Noa exclaimed, then gave Sai a dirty look as if expecting for him to tell her otherwise. When Sai didn't say anything, she looked down at her lap. "She taught me a lot of things that a Healer needs to know. She was my hero."

Sai gave her a sideways glance. Why this girl was suddenly being talkative was beyond him, but he decided this may be a good chance to ask her several questions that had been bothering him since he saw her. "You wanted to be Gifu's Healer? Like your grandmother was?"

"I didn't really care about being a Healer, but she taught me anyway. She said that there are things a person can do in his lifetime, and it's his mission to search for that thing and complete it. She's always believed I was meant to save lives." Noa shrugged her shoulders uncomfortably. "But she should have known better than to waste her talents on a colony who'd rather lose their lives peacefully than die fighting…"

Sai's eyebrows rose above his forehead, disappearing under his floppy hat. He had always thought that Noa didn't follow The Way, but this was the first time the girl had actually voiced it out. Strange, for someone living in Gifu. Sai looked out again at the sea. It would be but another hour before it got dark, and no sooner would the temperature drop soon after. He would have to help set up camp for the party soon. "Noa," he said.

The girl looked up at him, surprised. Sai realized that this was probably the first time he's ever called the girl by name. "Huh?"

"Your grandmother studied her craft somewhere else, right?" Sai asked. Noa's eyes widened even more, though Sai thought that deduction was not something to be surprised about. He gave his neck one last rub before wiping his hands on his pants. "You don't happen to have come from, say, a Hidden Village, right?"

The next thing that happened almost had Sai falling from his rock. Noa had suddenly bared her teeth at him, hissing angrily, "How _dare _you accuse me of such things! Are you saying I'm like _you?"_

Sai didn't have a hard time masking his triumph when Noa just blurted out what he had been suspicious of all along. His hand shot out and grabbed Noa's wrists effortlessly. "You know what we are." It was not a question. And whatever doubt Sai had in his head was erased by Noa's surprised reaction, which was punctuated even further when she wrenched her wrist from Sai's hand and made an attempt to slap him across the face.

But Sai was too fast for her. He swiftly regained control by grabbing her hand and twisting her arm awkwardly behind her.

"Pervert!" Noa started to scream.

"Per – ?" It was then did Sai realize he was holding her _hand_. He didn't know what got into him, but his reflexes jumped into action and he clamped his free hand over her mouth.

Like a pervert.

He wondered what Sakura would have done to him is she were to see him trying to restrain a tiny girl against her will.

"I don't want to fight you. Not here," Sai whispered in her ear. He knew what his mission was, and that was to keep Sakura safe. If Noa would be a reason for Sakura to be thrown out of the only hiding place they have, then he would just have to eliminate Noa. "What do you know about me and Sakura? Let's just hope you know what you _shouldn't _know."

Noa froze in his hold. Sai knew that he was never really capable of threatening a person, but Noa looked like she was intimidated enough.

"Now," Sai began. "I'm going to uncover your mouth if you promise not to scream."

Noa looked like she was weighing the pros and cons, and after a while finally nodded.

Sai released her mouth.

Noa screamed her lungs out.

Sai groaned inwardly before clamping his hand back on her face. She was being difficult again. And to think she was being quite cooperative just a while ago. Was there something he'd said that he shouldn't have? He was not used to having to analyze the things he'd said to other people…

_She has to be a foreigner. She has to be…_

He was taken by surprise when Noa suddenly sank her teeth into one of his fingers. The pain snaked through his arm, making him cry out and release her.

Noa tumbled down the rock in haste, nearly diving head first into the cooling sand at her feet as she scuttled as far away from Sai as possible.

Sai pressed his finger to his lip and tasted blood. The Noa girl had the nerve to draw _blood_. Yes, definitely not from Gifu…

"So what if I don't believe in The Way? So what if my grand-mama believed differently from what they believe?" Noa snarled at him, as if it was his fault. "I know you're no different from me. You and that pink-haired girl… that _Sakura_…" Her lips curled back over her teeth at the name, as if it left a bad taste in her mouth.

Sai slowly sat back down on the rock, took his finger out of his mouth and frowned. The way Noa had been spending too much time and effort in making their lives a living hell back in Gifu had always struck Sai as a mere cry for attention. But now, as he looked at the tiny girl's shaking shoulders, her face contorted in anger, he had a feeling it was more than that.

"That woman… I knew the moment you and she stepped into the colony, she was trouble. I could _feel _it. You came together, but I knew, she's the one who would bring Gifu pain." Her little hands tightened into fists and she took a brave step forward. "Why did you bring her to a place where people couldn't – _wouldn't _– defend themselves? _Why?_"

Sai could only watch her as he rolled things around his head. This was one of the reasons he was grateful to Root for training him to lose his emotions; normal people who let their emotions get away with them were not pretty to watch. That, and they tend to tell you everything you needed to know without asking. This girl knew that they came to Gifu for an different reason. _How_ she knew was beyond Sai, but he could tell one thing: Noa said Sakura brought _trouble_. Could it be she knew that people were after Sakura?

It didn't matter. If this girl was going to be a bother to them, she just had to disappear. It would be easy to make it look like an accident. The girl was always running around everywhere. She could have easily tripped and hit her head on a convenient rock… He slipped a hand inside his tunic for a weapon.

The girl must have sensed his intentions, for her shoulders tensed and the anger in her eyes was replaced by fear. Sai tilted his head to the side. He was right. The girl had to be an advanced sensory-type… what? _Advanced sensory-type ninja_?

A ninja? No, that can't be right…

Whatever she was, however scared she might have felt, she did not look like she was about to back down. Instead, she planted her feet sturdily under her, puffed her chest forward and stared at him straight in the eye. "My grand-mama was the best healer in Gifu to date. And do you know why?"

Sai He watched her closely, in case she tried something smart. He didn't understand why deep down, he somehow knew she wasn't about to run away. "Your grandmother didn't believe in the Way of the Wind, did she?"

"Do you think any healer should believe such crap? Oh, let me rephrase that. Do you think any _sane human _should?" Noa screamed.

Sai's eyebrows rose involuntarily at her choice of language. Curiosity struck, he let go of the hilt of the kunai, withdrew his hand from his tunic and folded his arms over his chest. "It's your culture. This is what Gifu is made of, and it goes back from the time before your grandmother was born. It is how it is."

"NO!" Noa wailed, a few tears spilling down her cheek that was hardly visible in the deepening darkness. In the distance he could see camp fires being lit where their party was. "If the people don't fight for their lives, if the people value their 'culture' more than themselves, then what purpose is a Healer in a colony of men and women who don't care if they live or die? My grand-mama… my grand-mama… " She had begun to really cry now.

While crying girls was never Sai's cup of tea, there was something in Noa's small form – the way she ignored the many different fluids falling down her face, the way she wasn't hiccupping pathetically like other girls usually do – that made him feel an indescribable nagging sensation in his gut.

Noa wiped a generous amount of snot running down her nose. "My grand-mama… had surgical scissors in one hand, a frying pan in another when she died six years ago. She was the only one carrying an object she intended to use as a weapon, and she used those scissors and frying pan to fend off the raiders who wanted our water from her patients. And you know what everyone else did? _Do you know?_"

There was nothing else to know about it. Sai remembered Sakura pointing out the abnormal death rate related to Gifu six years ago from the Healer's Journal in the clinic. So he was spot on. It _had _been a raid.

"The others looked on, and freaking prayed _while _the raiders slaughtered for something so trivial as water and shade. Some fled for safety, but those who remained were killed."

Sai frowned. "And how about you? What did you do? Did _you_ fight? Obviously not because you're still here."

Noa was taken aback by Sai's comment, and her face flushed in humiliation. "I had wanted to fight! B-but – my grand-mama stuffed me in a crate and loaded me on a camel. The next thing I knew, I was – "

"Enough," Sai cut her off. He didn't know what made him stop her. It was most probably the annoying piercing pain somewhere near his heart. Pushing himself off the rock, he reached out and placed a heavy hand on the tiny girl's head of messy red hair.

Noa froze once again, gasping silently as she tried to peer up at Sai's face. Sai doubted she could see him in the darkness and the shadows his floppy hat cast over his eyes. She grabbed his wrist and squeezed at it desperately. "I… I'm going to protect the people of this colony, no matter what! My grand-mama said to me, when she taught me about being a Healer, she said: _'It takes more than believing and praying to save lives'_. She said that a Healer doesn't have to wait for a person to get sick, or to get wounded in order to save them."

Sai felt at her skull testily, weaving through her coarse hair, deep in thought. She may be different from the average girl in the colony, and although she had some sort of… special ability, she was unmistakably not a kunoichi of any hidden village. "You," Sai said. "are one funny little lady."

Noa swallowed hard. "I have to protect the people who won't fight. I'll fight in their place, and I'll do my best. Even if… " The determined look was back on her face. "Even if those who are chasing your fiancée come, I'll protect the colony!"

And, despite himself, Sai felt a grin tug at the corner of his lip. "You do just that." He gave her hair a rough ruffle before he released her head and started for the village.

"Wha – ? Idiot foreigner!" Noa snarled and Sai heard her run after him. She stumbled in the sand a few times before finally catching up. She pulled at Sai's tunic sharply. "You wanted to do something bad to me earlier," she accused.

"I have no idea what you're saying."

"You lie. You had that weird killer-look in your eyes that – "

Sai looked down at her, eyes narrowed into slits. "Eh?"

Noa shrank a bit under his gaze for a moment. When she remembered that she was supposed to be all tough and scary, she tugged at Sai's tunic again. "When I said I'd protect the colony when the people running after you come barging in, I didn't mean I'd protect that pink-haired girl with it. You hear?"

Sai smiled his fake smile pleasantly and nodded. "I know. Leave the pink-haired girl to me. Protecting her is why I'm here, anyway."

* * *

Much to Sakura's surprise – and relief – she was not as lonely as she thought she would be at Sai's departure. Admittedly the house seemed insanely bigger without him, but her days were filled with a different but constant reminder that there was something good to look forward to each and every day from now on.

Her name was Riho, a twenty year old woman with long, white-blond hair and a set of light grey eyes that stood out from her chocolate-colored skin. She was willowy and tall.

That, and she was heavily pregnant with her first child.

Riho came almost every other day before Sai had left, but when the woman found out Sakura was left alone for a certain period of time, she had become a constant visitor in the clinic and dropped by even when she did not have an appointment. Sakura was grateful for her company. Riho was bright and cheerful, and she was always positive about everything that it was hard not to feel happy around her.

The only problem Sakura had with the woman was that she talked as much as she ate, which was normal enough for a pregnant woman. However, that day when Sai was supposed to come home was a bit different; Riho was binging on sweetened plum instead of her favorite bean jam dumplings.

The sun had well disappeared behind the western mountains, and Riho had once again dropped by for a visit.

"A blonde and a red-head, yes?" Riho suddenly blurted out after consuming her third plum.

Sakura, sitting behind her Healer's desk, looked up from the scroll in her hand and frowned. "Excuse me?"

"Your parents' hair. One must be blonde, and one must have red hair to have produced pink hair, yes?" Riho inquired as she leaned back onto the couch and rubbed her bulging stomach in contentment.

Sakura looked at the woman and sighed. Riho had been obsessing about her hair. She had also taken to imitating her by wrapping colorful scarves over her own head. Sakura returned her gaze back to her scroll. "My parents are both brunettes."

Riho was shocked. "Are they really? Oh, dear… Valu had red hair. I was hoping my firstborn would have pink hair like you."

Sakura shoved away the uncomfortable feeling brought about by Riho's talk about her husband who had passed away from Hantavirus four months ago. The woman did not even look like she was sad that she will have to raise her child as a single mother. Sakura pointed a quill at Riho and said, "You don't even know if your child will be a girl or a boy."

Riho shrugged her shoulders. "Does it matter?"

"What if – _that's an if _– your child did have pink hair. But what if it's a boy?"

"A boy with pink hair can be quite attractive and masculine, yes?"

Sakura had strong doubts about that, but simply shook her head and changed the subject. "Shouldn't you be getting ready for the Welcoming?"

Riho's pretty face brightened at the mention of the celebration the colony was going to hold tonight to welcome the trade party home. The people of Gifu loved parties and celebrations. They had celebrated three days and three nights at the arrival of their new Healer and then had found several other excuses to gather in the square at night to drink and sing and dance together around a lively fire.

Tonight, the trade party was coming home, and so this was the perfect excuse to celebrate.

"Your husband is coming home tonight. I bet you are _dying _to hold his hand," Riho said, her fine eyebrows wriggling mischievously as she reached for another sweetened plum from the bowl on the center table.

And for the love of her, Sakura felt herself blushing. And it had nothing to do with Riho calling Sai her husband. The culture of Gifu was so very easy to get used to. And Riho being perverted was not helping the very least.

Was Sakura required to hold Sai's hand when he comes home? What was a fiancée to say to her man after being away from her for a week? What was _Sai _going to say to _her?_

Riho laughed gaily. "Oh, dear! He isn't even here yet, and you're already thinking dirty thoughts."

Sakura gave her a nasty look. "I am _so _not thinking dirty thoughts!" Giving up on her reading, she gently, carefully rolled up the scroll and tucked it – just in case – in one of the secret pockets of her Healer's robe. In Sai's absence, Sakura had made sure to follow Katsuyu-sama's orders and study the Lady Tsunade's second scroll, even when she felt like her entire body would explode when she tried to read its contents.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a distant sound of chimes that signaled the start of the celebration.

Riho's head shot up and clapped her hands in glee. "Oooh! We should go! Let's go together, if it pleases you."

After giving Riho a rueful smile, she hurriedly but neatly got rid of the clutter on her desk before pushing herself up. "All right. But no dancing for you, Riho. And no wine for that matter."

Riho pretended to sulk. "I had wanted to do the Moon Dance…"

The Moon Dance required a lot of leaping and swaying of the hips. Sakura grinned. "Fine. I'll be there to catch your baby when it falls from your uterus."

Riho laughed again. The woman was just too happy for her own good. "You're showing me a bit of your sense of humor, Healer. You _must _be in a good mood. Let me guess, the little Noa girl's absence is relaxing, yes?"

Noa's face flashed through her mind's eye and for a brief moment wondered if Sai was doing all right, if the Noa girl hadn't killed him already. "The place is starting to smell a lot better around here, that's for sure."

"You are lucky. She wasn't as nice to the Healers who came before you."

"What's the worst she can do compared to having camel dung traps scattered all over your garden then throw wolfberries at your face?"

"Throw camel dung at your face, yes?"

Sakura blinked at Riho in disbelief before wrinkling her nose. "Seriously?"

"Yes. Noa had them crying like little girls. Of course, no one would fight back." Riho gave Sakura a knowing look.

Sakura believed her. She didn't know why, but she believed her. But dwelling on the thought of being pelted with feces was not only disgusting, but downright humiliating. Now she feared for Sai's sanity even more.

"I'm sure your man will be fine. It's a rare case, actually, because Noa seems to like him," Riho mused as she popped a couple more plums into her mouth and chewed happily

This, too, Sakura believed. In the days that followed their arrival in Gifu, it seemed like Noa had taken an oath to pelt Sai with wolf berries on a daily basis. And although Sai was more than capable of dodging those attacks, he never did try exceptionally hard to do so. Sakura had actually come down with a conclusion that Noa had been desperately trying to catch Sai's attention. Of course, Sai being Sai, he didn't even notice he was being fancied by a girl. Sakura didn't blame him. Noa's way of showing it was out of the ordinary.

"Girls will be girls, I suppose," Sakura said indifferently as she finished stuffing away further paperwork into her desk drawers.

Riho raised an eyebrow at her. "Jealous, yes?"

"Not the very least." Sai was as insensitive as a brick when it came to those kinds of things that for her to get jealous over another girl was silly. But then she remembered that she was supposed to be engaged to Sai, and she forced a smile at Riho, saying, "Well, maybe just a little bit."

Riho looked like she was about to say something when someone knocked on Sakura's clinic door. Frowning, she glanced over to the oil lamp placed strategically in the center of the room. She had closed the clinic two hours ago when she was sure there were no more appointments for the day. She wondered who it could be at this time, when everyone in Gifu must be away in the square for dancing and drinks.

"Healer, are you there?" called out a male voice from behind her door.

Sakura recognized it to be Goro, one of the men who had welcomed them to Gifu along with Tomona. Hurrying to the door, she was caught off-guard when a flash of disturbingly familiar green zoomed before her eyes and Rock Lee had thrown himself at her feet, weeping like someone had died.

Sakura screamed bloody murder.

"We found you at last, Sakura," someone said from somewhere to her left.

Sucking in a breath, Sakura felt the hairs at the back of her neck stand on end. And as if in slow motion, she raised her head up to find Hyuuga Neji standing there beside a beaming Tenten, both of them looking absolutely run-down and dirty.

Sakura's hand instantly fell to the bulge on her robe pocket. "Friend or foe?" she demanded.

Neji, whose face always did look dry and annoyed in any normal day, withered a notch as their eyes met. "Lee is slobbering all over your feet and you ask me if we're friend or foe?"

Sakura slowly looked down the moment Lee looked up at her. Those saucer-like eyes had its determined look just the way Sakura remembered. Like Tenten and Neji, Lee was worse for wear. On his back was a rucksack that almost had nothing in it, and Sakura decided that the three of them may have been traveling the desert for days.

And she did not know what had gotten over her, but her throat caught, and her eyes began to burn, and the next thing she knew tears were spilling down her cheeks as she knelt down beside Lee and embraced him tightly. "Welcome... welcome…"

It was the only thing she could think of saying at the moment.

"You're alive… Thank goodness," Lee hissed as he returned her embrace. "We were looking all over for you, unsure if we'd find you… "

Sakura could hear footsteps from behind her, and Riho emerged from the clinic. "Friends of yours, Healer?"

Sakura pulled away from Lee, nodded at Riho then looked at Goro, who was watching them in confusion, unsure of what to do. "These are my friends. Good friends."

Neji nodded at the man and Tenten waved at him cheerfully. Goro instantly turned away blushing, and Sakura noticed that while Neji and Lee's hands were wrapped up in bandages, Tenten's hands and arms were completely bare.

Sakura could only laugh and gestured at Goro again. "I'll have them decent enough for everyone, I promise."

Riho sensed the uncomfortable situation and wobbled slowly towards Tenten. "If it pleases you, come."

Tenten looked from Neji to Riho in confusion. "Me? What did I do?"

Neji jerked his head silently, as if saying to just do what Riho said, and Tenten nodded obediently.

Sakura reached out and squeezed Tenten's hand when she passed and Tenten swooped down for a brief hug before following Riho into the clinic. Goro sighed in relief when the door closed and the smile returned to his face.

"Everyone is a friend of Gifu, Healer. I shall call the women and tell them the wonderful news that three others will be joining our celebration," Goro said politely and bowed himself away.

Neji watched the man disappear behind the tall cacti down the road. "Celebration?"

Sakura could only smile so much it hurt as she nodded at Neji. "It's a long story." Giving Lee one final hug before the both of them rose to their feet, she wiped at her face. "How is Konoha?"

And once again Neji's face became grimmer still. "That, too, is a long story." Sakura saw his eyes tighten, and her heart tightened with it.

She just hoped it wasn't bad news that they were carrying with them.

* * *

**_A/N: Could have updated sooner, but FF wouldn't let me. I couldn't complain._**

**_Our prayers to Japan._**


	9. Schemes and Celebrations

**Chapter Nine:**

**Schemes and Celebrations**

* * *

The night had gotten deeper still, and what had been smoldering hot but a few hours earlier was replaced with freezing cold. Hyuuga Neji could not understand how the women of this strange colony could walk around with their skirts hiked so high up their legs and their feet bare. Twenty or so of said women were dancing some sort of alluring dance that required a certain swaying of the hips and graceful waving of their arms at their sides. They wove through the five bonfires lit in the middle of the huge clearing, and once in a while men would join them, carrying tambourines and maracas as they made their way around the fires.

Those who weren't dancing were by the edge of the clearing where several tables held bowls and bowls of dried fruit, cured meat and plum wine. At the other side of the clearing were smaller round tables where those who didn't feel like dancing – mostly men – were gathered with large clay mugs in their sheathed hands, all of them boisterously talking and laughing without a care in the world. Sakura had explained that today was a welcome-home celebration for the trade party Sai was apparently a member of.

Neji, who was sitting alone on a flat rock at the edge of the clearing, frowned. The trade party hadn't even come home yet, but the celebration looked like it was peaking already.

"You look lonely," came a voice from behind him.

Looking over his shoulder uncaringly, Neji found Tenten standing a few feet away, wearing one of those loose tops Neji had seen around. Wrapped around her hips was a skirt that resembled the ones worn by the other women of the colony. It went all the way down to her ankles. He could only be grateful enough that Tenten didn't hike it up her legs. The thought made Neji shiver. It was not everyday the fact that Tenten was actually a woman hit him squarely in the head when he least expected it. Come to think of it, it was not everyday Tenten paraded around in a _skirt_. What was most surprising was that she was actually pleasant to look at as a female. Her hair which was always tied back in twin buns on top of her head was now loose around her shoulders, and her cheeks had a bit of color in them that Neji thought had a lot to do with all the wine going around.

"You look nice in desert robes," she commented as she settled beside him on the flat rock before handing him one of the clay cups she had in her hands. When Neji sniffed that the contents of the cup suspiciously, Tenten clicked her cup with his. "Cheers. Plum wine."

"Hn." If Gai sensei were to find out they were drinking before age twenty, he would have a fit. Neji downed the drink in one gulp and placed the empty cup beside him.

Tenten whistled appreciatively. "There's someone who isn't afraid to get drunk. I already warned everyone not to make a mistake and let Lee have a go at the punch bowl. I didn't say why, but everyone seemed to believe me when I said bad things will happen if he did."

Neji didn't have to use his _Byakugan_ to search where his other teammate was. Unlike Tenten and himself, who had been more than happy to change out of their shinobi clothes and into colony wear, Lee was adamant about his all-around green suit. Apparently, he had brought an extra pair with him. Much to Neji's surprise, however, it seemed to be driving the local women crazy. Lee was like a happy green dot in a handful of young, tan-skinned ladies who were all teaching him some weird form of dance.

"I didn't know the women of the Western desert liked their men eccentric," Tenten said appreciatively as Lee started to imitate the way the women moved their arms over their heads. She gave Neji a sidelong glance. "Jealous much?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." It was very like Tenten to tease him when he was in a considerably bad mood. He looked up again when he sensed someone detach herself from the crowd surrounding the refreshments table and head towards them. It was the pregnant woman who was with Sakura when they first came to the colony.

"If it pleases you?" Riho asked as she waddled near them, one of her hands resting on her protruding belly.

Neji rose to his feet. "Shouldn't you be resting, instead of staying up late in the cold?"

Riho eyed him long and hard before taking the seat he had offered, then she turned to Tenten with a giggle. "All of the men from where our Healer has come from are pleasant to look at. Is it the water that makes them so handsome?"

Neji looked away hastily and pretended not to hear when Tenten said, "It might have something to do with the way we women train them. And the air. Yeah, something about the air."

Riho was interested. "We cannot do anything about the air, but perhaps you would teach me how you train your men?" Neji could feel Riho's eyes roaming up and down his body. "Your man is very, _very_ pleasant to look at."

Neji stiffened uncomfortably.

Tenten laughed gaily. "I'm sure he's happy about the compliment, but he isn't mine."

"Oh? Oh! I'm sorry for the misunderstanding…"

Neji rubbed the side of his face with the back of his hand, embarrassed. When he was able to make contact with Kankurou of the Sand and managed to squeeze from him possible whereabouts of Sakura, the puppet-user had suggested that Sakura could be in a place called Gifu. He had warned them that Gifu was… _strange_. If only Neji knew it would be _this _strange…

"Are all the men in your place dark-haired and white?" Riho asked again.

Blond hair, blue eyes, an orange-sort-of tan and whiskered cheeks flashed before Neji's mind's eye and he instantly felt his lips grimly press into a tight line. He didn't know why Naruto's face would suddenly invade his thoughts at a time like this. "No. No, they aren't."

The fact seemed to have surprised the woman. "Oh. I just assumed because the Healer's fiancée also has dark hair and pale skin, and so do you, and – "

"Wait. What?" Tenten suddenly cut her short, eyes wide as saucers. "The Healer's _what_?"

Riho looked more that willing to answer her, when out of nowhere Sakura burst forth with a loud yell and threw her arms around Tenten's neck, giggling.

Neji winced as he caught a whiff of the pink-haired kunoichi's sweet plum smell. Her cheeks were colored and her skirt, much to Neji's horror, was hitched so high up her legs it should have been illegal.

"Hey there," Tenten greeted as Sakura settled down by the ground between Tenten and Riho's legs.

"Are you all having a good time?" Sakura asked as she hugged Riho's leg lovingly. "I've been drinking your share of the wine, Riho."

Neji grimaced again. He had always known and respected Haruno Sakura for her strength and medical prowess, and had heard rumors that she would be one of the best medic nin since Tsunade. But with her reeking of alcohol and boisterously cheering at the people dancing in the distance, it scared Neji that the Fifth Hokage's apprentice was going to take up even her master's bad vices.

"Tenten! What are you doing? Be a good sport and hitch your skirt up like this!" Sakura started to attack Tenten's skirt. And Tenten did nothing but laugh. She _laughed! _As if exposing her legs was forgivable when she was doing it in front of a man. In front of _him_, of all men!

"Like this?" Tenten asked as she tucked the ends of her skirt under her belt, showing a generous amount of knees and thighs that were, much to Neji's surprise, porcelain-white, toned and flawless.

"Higher! Higher!" Sakura coaxed. Riho cheered them on happily.

Neji felt all the blood in his body rush up to his head, and he didn't realize that he had stepped forward and yanked a confused Tenten up to her feet and had pushed her behind him, away from Sakura.

"Neji!" Sakura wailed uncharacteristically as she tried to snatch the Weapons Mistress back.

Neji spread his arms at his side. "We will not have any of this in my squad," he said sternly.

Tenten peeked over his shoulder and said, "You're no fun." She seemed a bit put out but released her skirt from her belt and wiggled it down to her ankles. "For a second I thought you were my father."

"I am your _squad leader_. That comes close to being your father while you are under my wing."

Tenten pouted. "Then aren't you going to restrain Lee from undressing then?"

Neji groaned inwardly as he looked over to the crowd of dancing women to find Lee had unzipped the top of his suit and was now bare-chested from the waist up.

It was not everyday that Neji got to defend Tenten's honor, but there was just _no way_ he'd defend Lee's. If the _Taijutsu_ master found dancing around naked fun, then he wasn't about to stop him. Neji pushed Sakura back when the pink-haired kunoichi tried to snatch at Tenten's skirt again. "Don't even – "

His words were cut short when Tenten suddenly brushed passed him, her legs – those white, fair-skinned legs he didn't know she had – bare way over her knees.

Tenten grabbed a bemused Sakura's hand and dashed off towards the square, dodging the bonfires. Tenten, once away in a safe distance, threw a glance over her shoulder at Neji and winked.

She _winked!_

And Neji felt his cheeks burn again. He rubbed them with his palms roughly and turned to Riho, who was looking up at him knowingly.

"Are all the men from your home place so dense? Or are you and the Healer's fiancée two of a kind?" the woman asked as she rubbed her belly lazily before standing up from her rock and looked over to where Sakura and Tenten started that erotic dance involving too much hip movement.

Neji watched as Tenten raised her hands over her head, causing her dark locks to cascade down her shoulders, covering a portion of her neck. Neji instantly looked away. "I am not _dense_."

"Of course not," Riho cooed, as she would to a child being difficult. Her expression turned serious after a moment. "What brings you to Gifu, Neji-san?"

The woman's grey eyes reflected the light from the fires as she gave him a side-long glance, her fine white-blond hair hiding her tan cheeks. Neji shivered. The ninja world was broad, and because of the divisions of the countries, the range in cultures in villages, towns and cities were extremely wide. While Neji had been sent on missions to certain hidden villages that worshipped fallen meteorites and such, this was probably the first time he was sent to such a place where he had to survive without having to fight. But this woman – this Riho – looked like she was capable of engaging in one if she chose to.

"We came to meet with Sakura," Neji said truthfully, then added, "_And _her fiancée." He still didn't let that tiny little fact slip his mind.

Riho's lips peeled back over her white teeth into a stiff smile. "And what are you planning when you finally _'meet with Sakura'?"_

Of course, that got him stumped. When they left the Leaf under Danzo's orders, Neji hadn't really planned ahead on what to do next, if or when they meet Sakura. He guessed that a part of him was hoping Sakura would tell them what to do, if she had received any instructions from Tsunade.

But it seemed like Sakura was too busy playing house with the Root agent. Neji frowned. "Nothing. Just seeing her safe and alive is enough for us. For now, at least." He didn't know what story Sakura had fed the people of Gifu, so he decided it was better to keep everything vague for the moment.

That said, Riho seemed to relax evidently. "Well and good, then. I was afraid you were going to take her away. That would be most inconvenient for me, since I'm expecting my child to be born within the month."

She rubbed her belly lovingly once more. "How I wish it would be a boy. Then I will name him Valu, after his father."

Neji's brow wrinkled as she watched the men join in the dancing a moment after Tenten and Sakura mingled with the women of the colony. He tore his eyes away from the group when a young man wove his way towards Tenten to hold her waist as she moved her hips from side to side, her arms raised lightly above her head. On the other side of the dance floor, Lee – half-naked and proud of it – was dancing with three girls at once. It was settled; his teammates were having the time of their lives being promiscuous.

Not knowing what led him to do so, Neji activated his _Byakugan_ and looked over to Riho's stomach a few seconds before deactivating it again. "Rejoice. It's a boy."

Riho blinked at him. "What – ?"

"You're going to have a baby boy. Don't ask me how I know." Neji said shortly. And he left for the dance floor slowly, leaving a bewildered Riho staring after him.

Skirting the bonfires lithely, he made a beeline for his female teammate, politely told the guy she was dancing with to give him his turn and took a surprised Tenten by the waist, pulling her closer a few inches.

"Hello," Tenten greeted as she lightly placed her hands on Neji's shoulders. "What brings you to this side of the colony?"

"You _do_ know what's going on here, don't you?" Neji asked as they swayed to the sound of the stringed instruments and drums. Tenten had stopped moving her hips – much to Neji's relief – and settled to a subtle slow dance. The people around them, who may have never seen such form of dancing, looked over at them curiously, and in a matter of minutes, the sensuous swaying of hips stopped and the crowd started to break down into couples intent on imitating their intimate slow-dance.

"What's happening? Beside the fact that we're slow-dancing in the middle of a cold, open-air dance floor with my skirts thrown up over my thighs?" Tenten asked, amused.

Neji, however, was _not_ amused. He let his hands slide down Tenten's belt and pulled free the ends of her skirt. It tumbled down the length of her legs, down to her ankles. "Women should only bare their skin in front of one pair of male eyes, and even _that's _reserved for her wedding night."

Tenten's eyebrows raised considerably up her forehead. "I'd like to hear you say that in front of Yamanaka Ino."

"It doesn't _apply_ to Yamanaka Ino," Neji hissed, annoyed. "It is a tradition of the Hyuuga Clan. Our women do not _flaunt _assets that are meant to be enjoyed by that one man who they are supposed to marry."

Tenten grinned mischievously. "But…" She looked up at him inquiringly. "I'm not a Hyuuga."

Neji opened his mouth to speak, only to close it again, embarrassed. "I know that, but – "

Tenten squeezed his shoulders lightly. "Are you _implying _on something, then?"

"I'm not _implying _anything."

"Well, because if you are, I'd love to hear it from you straight out, you know, instead of having you pull at my skirts and rain on my parade and all."

"I'm not _implying _anything," Neji repeated scathingly, eyes narrowing. "I'm merely saying that I'm not comfortable with the only woman in my squad baring her flesh in front of dozens of men who – "

" – who see women's bare legs at a daily basis and don't give a damn so long as their hands aren't showing. Relax, Neji," Tenten crooned as she started to rub his sore shoulders gently. "We've been traveling the desert for almost a week and I know you're on edge. But we found her. And she's well. Sure, she seems to be putting up a great show of supposedly being engaged to Sai." She frowned. "But I'm sure she has her reasons to deceive these people."

Trying to ignore the lithe fingers kneading at the tight muscles of his shoulders, Neji concentrated on keeping his own hands still on her waist. "Deception is the art of a kunoichi. It doesn't bother me the least that she's posing as a Healer for a colony that needs one." Neji looked down at Tenten, white eyes meeting dark brown ones. "I just wished she picked a better place to hide from Danzo."

Tenten's face darkened at the mention of the name, but she didn't say a word. She didn't have to. Neji knew she was aware of what he was thinking, and he knew she didn't like it, either.

Their thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a distant whistle coming from the northern entrance of the colony. At that, the people around them broke into a frenzy dance involving a lot of feet-stomping and clapping of hands. Neji, hands tensing around Tenten's waist, looked up and saw several covered wagons wheel their way through the clay and rock houses and into the clearing now full of cheering and dancing men and women.

"The party is back!" Neji heard Riho's voice across the quad and the rest of the crowd erupted into happy cheering. Some of the women began to sing a certain haunting hymn that reminded Neji of chimes struck in an empty room.

Neji felt the veins in his temples contract as he activated his _Byakugan_. There were five to six men in each wagon, and one by one they filed out, hopping down onto the sandy ground then pressing a hand over his heart to greet the women clapping in welcome at their return.

Tenten stood on tiptoe, pushing against his chest as she tried to look over the heads of the people crowding around the caravan. "I can't see! I can't see! What's going on? Is it Sai?"

Neji spotted the Root Agent as he walked around one of the wagons with an empty barrel over one of his shoulders. He had changed over the last month Neji had not seen him; darker for one. And rougher around the edges. He had a ridiculous floppy hat on his mop of dark hair, robes wrapped around his shoulders. The one thing that didn't change was his expression; meaning, he didn't have one. What he did have was a stalker. A very tiny girl had jumped down from another wagon and hurriedly scooted across the clearing to hide behind a cactus. Neji frowned. "It's Sai. He seems all right, too."

"Really? That's good to hear," Tenten said, falling back down on the balls of her feet.

Lee suddenly appeared at Neji's other side, his green suit once again zipped up, and although it was cold, the Taijutsu master was red in the face from all that dancing. "We should greet him, then. He does, after all, not know that we are here."

In the corner of his field of view, Neji saw a blur of pink shoot through the crowd. Lee, who was taller than Tenten, seemed to have caught a glimpse of that pink hair darting through the sea of heads. "Ah! Look! I see Sakura-san had gone to welcome him."

Neji narrowed his _Byakugan_-enhanced eyes as he saw Sakura break through the crowd, drunkenly stumbling forward, but immediately pushed herself back on wobbly feet. Neji saw Sai turn around at the sound she made over the eerie hymn. And Sai – whose face was almost always devoid of emotion – smiled a small smile that, for once, reached his deep onyx eyes.

And Sakura smiled back.

Then she braced herself back, jumped with a force she would have used to leap from one tree branch to another, and unceremoniously tackled Sai. The two of them went rolling onto the floor.

And at that instant, the very happy crowd around them was silenced. Some uncomfortably shifted on their feet as they looked on. The dancing and singing stopped.

"What's going on? I can't see, dammit!" Tenten complained again, and she started hopping up and down in an attempt to have a glimpse at what had caused the crowd to cease their celebration.

And the next thing that happened had the whole square gasping in pure awe as the group of onlookers seemed to lean forward as one.

Neji deactivated his _Byakugan_ in a hurry, covered his eyes with one hand and shook his head.

"What's happening? Did you see them?" Tenten asked curiously as she tugged at Neji's sleeve.

Neji dropped his hands to his sides. "Sakura is with Sai right now."

Lee was on his toes, frowning, hoping to see the two. "They are? I do not see them standing there – "

Neji cleared his throat uncomfortably. "That's because they aren't standing."

Tenten looked like she was about to chew her bottom lip from her face. "Sakura didn't faint, did she? She looked like she had too much to drink…"

"Sakura just tackled Sai," Neji explained roughly.

Lee's frown deepened. "Maybe we should help her – "

"Leave them alone," Neji said.

Tenten pouted. "But – "

"If you want to interrupt a passionate kiss between two lovers who have been apart for days, then go ahead. I'm not sticking my neck in that." Neji turned to leave. "I'm going to get something to eat." And maybe something to drink.

Something strong.

He could hear Tenten squeal excitedly from behind him, followed by the sound of Lee dropping dead.

* * *

Nara Shikamaru was bored. He needed to go to the toilet, and he wanted a cigarette. But Danzo didn't even look like he was far from over with his examination of the files Shikamaru had handed him.

"You seemed to have put a lot of thought into this," Danzo finally spoke as he closed the fairly thick file and turned his swivel chair to face the tinted glass windows behind his desk.

Shikamaru dug a pinky finger into his ear. "It was a bother, to tell you honestly. But then again, you wouldn't have wanted anything short than a full analysis. Right?"

Danzo let out a silent laugh, as if Shikamaru had just said a mediocre joke. "You didn't have to. I've already decided not to severe the alliance between Leaf and Sand. As you've said before, having them borrow our Academy's curriculum is too heavy an investment. And trade isn't that bad."

Shikamaru retrieved his pinky finger and examined the wax he's unearthed with his nail. Konoha Eleven was not very knowledgeable about Himura Danzo, and it wasn't until Tsunade's reign that the man had started showing his head above ground. Research was easy enough to do, though majority of his facts came from his father. Though Danzo was good at plots, schemes and underhanded tricks, he was never a renowned strategist. Come to think of it, the man had a long list of mistakes done in the history of Konoha, some written, some out of memory. To Shikamaru, it never mattered much. To him, Danzo was just a sore-loser who would go _beyond _honor to _gain _honor.

And the ends just won't justify the means.

While Himura Danzo had been driven by his pride to outshine the late Third Hokage, and at some twisted perspective his love for the Village, Shikamaru couldn't help but see where the man's flaws were; he was just too afraid to die. He was afraid back in his youth. He was afraid now. And a man fueled by fear of death could live a pretty damn long life, even if it meant having to cheat death and every single person he had to come across to do so.

Even _break_ ties, and _create_ ties.

The idiot was planning to bribe Kumo with a little girl's eyes. Sick. Just sick.

"That report is about the pros and cons in giving up Hyuuga Hanabi's eyes to the Cloud. They cannot – _should not _– be trusted. Unless you want your back stabbed, which I'd assume you don't." Shikamaru sighed. This was a conversation they've already had over many times. It wasn't helping that he was the one who had to face Hyuuga Hiashi about breaking the deal off about not touching the heir. "Besides, the Hyuuga Household won't agree to have their heir offered as a sacrifice. You of all people should know that."

Danzo did not move. He remained with his back turned to Shikamaru.

Shikamaru sighed again. "Can I go now?"

Danzo stood up slowly from his chair, then faced him with that one eye of his. "I am aware of that. You have a pretty good head on your shoulders, Nara Shikamaru, so I think you know what I'm planning. Am I wrong?"

Shikamaru hesitated. As a matter of fact, he did know. He knew all too well what he was planning. "Yes. Of course I know."

"The Cloud has contacted us, as expected. The Ambassadors from Kumo will be arriving in the middle of March. That's barely three months away. Hyuuga Neji's job was to bring Naruto back as a fail-safe, but there had been no reports from Team Gai or Team Kurenai for half a month now."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "So you're settling for the bribe?"

Danzo smiled. "If they don't make it until Kumo arrives, yes."

"That could start conflict all altogether. Not to mention turmoil within the Village walls. It's in these times we need to keep the clans inside the village together, not try to put them against you. I'm sure you're not forgetting that Akatsuki is still moving, and Kumo is the least of our worries."

Danzo's smile widened. "So what do you suggest?"

Shikamaru bit his inner cheek, getting excited. Here was the chance. Duty bound him to tell the Sixth what he thought best for the village at the moment, although deep down he felt like he was betraying his friends. If it weren't for this damn cursed seal…

Crap… he hoped this worked.

"I suggest – _insist_ – we leave Hyuuga Hanabi with her eyes, and concentrate on tracking Naruto down, since his absence is what's causing this in the first place. That, and village may be ninety percent repaired, but the villagers are troubled and the shinobi are broken. Let's face it. The Leaf needs a hero. Too bad that hero isn't you. "

For a moment Shikamaru thought he had gone too far with his insults, especially when he saw Danzo's sour frown.

"Indeed," was all the man said. He returned to his seat and flipped through the file again absently. After a moment, he looked up at Shikamaru and said, "Summon Hatake Kakashi to my office at once."

_Gotcha._

Shikamaru bent forward into a bow, quickly hiding the grin tugging at his mouth. Men and their pride. What a bother.

"Understood."

* * *

The rest of the night, the people of Gifu had taken kissing to be some sort of greeting – like placing a hand on ones chest as a sign of respect between men and women – and the colony was found with random young couples making out in corners when they met by chance. Sai was more than amused with the outcome, since he didn't even know that Sakura had become so influential in the colony after spending almost a month as their Healer. Of course, he too wasn't sure how to take how Sakura had tackled him to the ground and without even hesitating, pressed her lips to his. She had tasted of plum wine. She smelled of it, too. After Sakura had roughly run her hands through his hair, she had passed out on top of him. And for some reason, the wild dancing of the people resumed as if nothing happened. Sai had merely carried Sakura back to their place, grateful at least that she didn't bare her hands in public.

Sai himself was not able to sleep that night. He was more than disturbed to find Neji at his doorstep an hour after he had tucked Sakura in. There was a kunai in his hand the moment he had seen the pale-eyed Hyuuga peering at him from the darkness outside his door.

"_I come as a friend,"_ Neji had explained shortly. Sai didn't have a reason to doubt him. And they sat in front of the hearth in the clinic the whole night until morning, talking about Konoha.

Sai was not surprised to find out that Danzo had revived the Village destroyed by Pain in less than a month. He had been working under the man long enough to know that he was more than capable of making wise decisions that benefited the Leaf, whatever the means. With all those who attempted to resist – and even those who were likely to do so – were sent to jail.

"I'm surprised you aren't among them," Sai pointed out as he poked at the nearly dying embers of the fire in the hearth.

Neji, who's had his head lowered for the past hour, looked up at him. "Just because we are not with him did not mean we were stupid enough to say it out loud."

Sai didn't doubt the Hyuuga. He smiled at him. "Of course. You weren't branded a genius for nothing, I suppose."

Neji snapped his teeth together, and Sai wondered if he said something that he shouldn't have. Neji showed signs of being… annoyed. "Yes, well... " He cleared his throat. "Well… "

Sai, having deducted that Neji was having trouble with the train of conversation, gestured at him with a hand. "Let me get to the point, then. You said Team Gai and Team Kurenai had split up to look for Naruto and Sakura. I'm not sure with Team Eight, but tell me; what were you planning once you found us?"

"I was betting Sakura had received instructions from Tsunade-sama. Something that would give me a hint at what to do next."

"Were you able to talk to her?"

Neji sighed. "No. When we arrived, it didn't seem appropriate to tell her, what with the celebration in the colony. I also thought it better to talk to her with you around. It turns out waiting for you to arrive was a bad idea."

"Are we talking about her consuming too much alcohol?"

"That, and because she kissed you, Lee's been a bad mood since last night."

Unconsciously, Sai touched his forefingers to his lips at the memory of that time when Sakura had given him that unexpected kiss. If he weren't Sai, it might have been a big deal. Fortunately he _was_ Sai, and he certainly was not at all affected by it. Personally, he just didn't care. He did not understand why it bothered Lee too much. "People do crazy things when they're drunk," he reasoned.

Neji watched him closely with those pale eyes of his, shadows dancing on his face from the fire in the hearth. "Of all the places you would be hiding, why here? And as lovers, more so?"

Sai could only shrug. "Why not? Why else would a boy and a girl travel by themselves if they weren't a couple?"

"That's beside the point," Neji said.

"We weren't provided many options to begin with, Hyuuga Neji. Sakura was injured when we escaped Fire Country, and the Kazekage didn't want to get involved with us directly." Sai poked at the fire again. "If it weren't for his friendship with Naruto, he may not have suggested this place to begin with."

Sai didn't understand what was bothering Neji, but whatever it was seemed to have worsened when he heard the door to the clinic open to admit a slightly flushed Tenten in a skirt that flowed down to her ankles. Her hair, usually in two neat buns, was loose around her shoulders. She had obviously been out drinking, and by the way Neji was staring at her, it was also obvious her squad leader wasn't happy that she had just come back home when the first light of morning was peeking within the horizon.

"I didn't know you were capable of looking like a woman," Sai said when Tenten swept behind him. He let out a startled yelp when he felt her foot snap and dig at his side.

"Oh sorry, sorry! Bit tipsy here." Tenten let out an innocent giggle before settling herself between Neji and Sai.

"Where's Lee?" Neji asked suspiciously. Before Neji had accompanied Sai when he'd hauled Sakura to her bed, the Hyuuga had ordered Tenten to find Lee, who had mysteriously disappeared in the sea of party people outside.

"He's out there with the other locals who insist he say and dance for the sunrise." Tenten gave Sai a sly look. "I didn't know you were in kissing terms with Sakura."

Sai raised one uncaring eyebrow. "As far as this colony goes, _yes_. It's nothing personal. She was drunk." Wrinkling his nose, he added, "And she stank. Just like how you stink, Tenten."

Tenten raised a fist at him, but Neji grabbed her wrist to stop her.

Sai smiled. Women were indeed scary, especially with too much alcohol intake. "So tell me, what do you plan to do now?"

Tenten shook Neji's grip away before straightening her sleeves. "Yeah, Neji. What do we plan to do now?"

Neji's jaw tightened as he gave Tenten one final warning look before turning to Sai. "Judging from the way things are, I am just glad that Sakura is safe."

Sai nodded, deciding to ignore the way Tenten made a face at Neji. "If you have nowhere to go, you can stay here. We have enough space." Sai gestured at the cots folded and kept under the stairs. "I'm sure Sakura wouldn't mind."

Neji watched him with those luminous eyes. Sai met his gaze head on without blinking. He wasn't given much chance to spend any time with the Hyuuga before, but he had heard of Neji from his superiors; the guy was supposed to be a genius. And the next thing he said confirmed the things Sai had heard about him.

"I am sure Sakura would not mind. But _you_ do, right?" Neji asked. Tenten, who at one moment was too drunk to hold a decent conversation, suddenly had her attention on Sai, her hands clenching and unclenching as if itching to grab a weapon Sai knew was hidden within her person.

Sai gave the two of them a bland grin. "I don't trust you. As much as you don't trust me. Correct?" There was no use beating around the bush with Team Gai. The happenings in Konoha had left every one of them edgy about everything, and he knew that anything that may relate to Danzo would seem suspicious to them.

"You _are_ Root, after all," Neji stated.

"Of course," Sai said uncaringly as he pushed against his knees to stand.

It may have been out of pure instinct that Neji leapt to join him on his feet. Tenten giggled like crazy.

"And what is so funny?" Neji growled at his teammate and, realizing he had put his guard up, crossed his arms over his chest unhappily.

Tenten hiccupped before giggling again. "Nothing, Neji. Relax. We left the Leaf to find Sakura, and we did. Trusting Sai or not doesn't matter." She started to stagger up on shaky legs, wobbled a bit before falling back on her behind.

Neji's jaw tensed as he tried to weigh what Tenten had just said. Sai could only watch the two as Neji nodded and Tenten grinned up at him as she made a peace sign. There was one time Sai was able to work with Tenten once before, and while he had admired her for not losing, not even a moment, composure in a battle, he was pleasantly surprised to see a side of her that was actually… _feminine_.

And of course, if Sai hadn't been Sai, he would have cared. But he _was_ Sai. And he just _didn't_ care. He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "Please, feel free to use the cots. I'm actually quite tired from the trade, so I'll have to excuse myself." Tugging at the collar of his robes, he nodded at Neji and Tenten before turning towards the stairs.

Tenten gasped. "Oh! Oh! Don't tell me you and Sakura sleep – "

"Together? No." Sai frowned. Women were nosy, and it seemed that Tenten was no exception. "Having you under one roof with Sakura makes me uncomfortable. I would appreciate it if you don't disturb us tonight while she is indisposed. At least until I find out your real intentions here in Gifu is not to take Sakura away."

It was Neji's turn to frown back at Sai. "And what assurance can a _Root agent_ give that he doesn't have hidden agendas with Sakura as well?"

"My mission is to _protect_ Haruno Sakura, no more, no less." Sai turned away from them. "And to a Root member, the mission is _everything_. I won't let anything harm her. And I mean it when I say _everything_. Even if it means having to fight _you_."

A muscle somewhere Neji's left eye twitched but he seemed unable to think of anything to say. But then again, the _Jounin_ was not stupid, nor did he seem scared. A bit annoyed, yes, but not scared.

Sai gave him a happy wave. "Sweet dreams." And he made his way up to their room.

The second floor window was already bright when he stepped into their room where he found Sakura exactly the way he left her sprawled on her stomach, arms on either side of her head. Her long skirt was still hiked up her belt, her toes peeking from her sandals she still had on. Bending down, he tugged her skirt to cover her legs and proceeded to remove her footwear.

"That… tickles… " Sakura murmured incoherently as she jerked her foot away from Sai when he accidentally brushed her ankle with his fingers.

Sai straightened up after depositing her sandals at the foot of her cot. "Are you awake?" he inquired, watching her a few seconds to wait for an answer.

The kunoichi mumbled something about plum and sand and dancing before she rolled on her back contentedly, a bit of drool trailing down her face from her half-open mouth. After hesitating for a moment, Sai wiped her cheek with the back of his hand and rubbed it on the side of his own robes. It was not everyday he got to see Sakura in her weakest state, looking absolutely disgusting.

He wished he had a camera. No canvas could have done this sight justice even if he did his best with his oils, if he'd brought them with him.

Reaching up, he lowered the wooden blinds that separated his cot from hers. It somehow bothered him that he would have to wait until tomorrow morning until he could have a decent conversation with Sakura regarding her week while he had been away. Had the villagers been nice to her? Was she able to adjust to the lifestyle? What with the changes happening in the Leaf, he doubted they would be leaving Gifu anytime soon, and it would be helpful if Sakura were comfortable here.

Sai pulled his robes over his head and neatly folded it on the corner of his cot, thoughts of the Hidden Leaf and of Danzo flooding his head with more questions as to why Danzo had allowed Konoha's ninja to wander away from home when the village wasn't stable enough to withstand a possible attack if Kumo or Iwa decided to pull the rug from under them.

Of course, Sai knew that Danzo was more than capable of defending the Leaf, but still it was not like the man to let even the tiniest possibility of a rebellion exist. Chances were, Hyuuga Neji and his team were here on Danzo's orders, whatever those orders may be.

Better to eye Team Gai as enemies than to drop his guard down around them. It looked like they were intent on staying in the colony for an indefinite period of time. The thought disturbed him. Too close for comfort.

Suddenly feeling extremely drained, Sai didn't even bother looking for a new shirt. Rolling onto his cot on his stomach on top of his sheets, he tilted his head to the side to eye Sakura. Much to his surprise, her green eyes, though a bit cloudy, were half-open and were looking at him with a contented expression from behind the wooden blinds.

"Good evening. Or should I say morning?" Sai said, shifting on his side to face her, using one hand to raise the blinds a few inches to see her face clearly. "How are you feeling?"

"My feet hurt," Sakura said groggily.

"You must have danced too much in the celebration," Sai said.

"I remember dancing with Tenten and Lee." She closed her eyes. "Neji didn't want to dance. What a stick in the mud."

Sai raised his eyebrows at the comment about the Hyuuga protégé, wondering what a 'stick in the mud' was. Deciding that he really didn't care, he asked, "How have you been?"

Sakura's eyes once again fluttered open and she gave him a small smile. "Riho's giving birth this month. Sooner than later, I think. I think I've made a friend in her."

Sai nodded. Sakura making a friend was a good thing, although he wasn't as sure as to what else to say regarding the subject. "That is a good thing. A friend can make your stay here a bit bearable. I know how women love to have girlfriends around for emotional support. It was written in a book I once read."

"Yeah, you're right." Sakura yawned. "I wonder how Ino is… "

"With her ability, I won't be surprised if Danzo's made good use of her one way or another." Sai shifted again and let his eyes wander towards the ceiling, then said, "But being stubborn and all, she could already be dead. Who would know?"

Sakura eyed him warily. "Can you be a bit more insensitive, please?"

"And why would you want me to be?" Sai asked curiously.

Sakura left the question unanswered and her eyes started to flutter a close. She yawned loudly and snuggled her cheek into her pillow. "I can't wait for her baby. She said she wants a baby boy."

"Hmm," Sai mused. "I suppose a boy would be nice for a first-born."

"You think so, too? I wouldn't mind if we had a girl instead… "

Sai blinked.

Then, in a very rare show of emotion, turned to Sakura, wide-eyed and confused. _"We?"_

His answer was a quiet snore coming from Sakura, who had conveniently fallen asleep with half her face buried comfortably on her pillow.

Sai didn't understand the way the tiny hairs on his arm stood on end at the absurd thought that had come out of Sakura's mouth. He didn't understand the way his heart seemed like it had skipped a beat – _nervously?_ – at the mere _idea _of it. Perhaps, if Sai weren't Sai, he would have blushed, would have brushed the comment aside shyly and pretend he didn't relish the thought of it. If Sai weren't Sai, he could have taken it in as a joke, and maybe even encourage the thought of having a girl instead of a boy. If Sai hadn't been Sai, he would have thought it to be cute, how Sakura would have said something utterly ridiculous because she was drunk and she didn't know what she was saying.

But Sai _was _Sai. And the only thing Sai thought about was the convenience that at least Sakura had found a friend in Gifu, and that she had come to adapt well with the culture of the colony. And because he was Sai, he could only reach over to her sleeping form and pull her sheets over her shoulders before lowering the blinds that separated him from her.

And tonight was going to be a long night because he _was_ Sai, and he was going to stay up all night watching over her while he wondered what that uncomfortable feeling forming in the middle of his gut was.

He looked over his shoulder at the door leading to the balcony. He was so tired he must be hearing things. For a moment he thought he heard someone trying to open the door from the outside.

At the back of his mind, he knew it was Noa, and for the first time in his life he appreciated the person who invented locks for doors.

* * *

**TBC**


	10. Life

**Chapter Ten:**

**Life**

* * *

December passed, and much to Sakura's surprise, Riho's baby still refused to come out. By the beginning of January, almost a week and a half since Sai had returned from Nikoro, it had begun to snow in Gifu during the evenings and very early mornings. Though most of it melted soon after the sunrise, Sakura, who had lived all her life in sunny, sunny Konoha, found waking up in the mornings a chore and tiptoeing with bare feet on the freezing rock and clay floor of their bedroom was close to excruciating. This morning was no different. Wrapping her blanket around her shoulders, she lazily slid out of her cot and winced as her toes touched the coldness.

"Good morning," said a voice from somewhere to her left. Looking up with eyes smoky with sleep, she saw Sai sitting on their dining table with Tenten, steaming mugs of something that smelled of barley tea in front of them. The two had thick robes draped over their shoulders, hands unsheathed of their fingerless gloves, and looking horribly, horribly awake and alert.

"Meh?" Sakura mumbled in response, feeling absolutely sleep deprived. Her week had been a blur of patients and their coughs, colds and fevers brought about by the sudden change of weather, and last night had been an all-nighter when Riho _'thought'_ she was about to give birth.

Sakura had been in a frenzy the moment the older woman had come knocking on her clinic door at around midnight last night, waking Neji, Tenten and Lee who were sleeping soundly in their cots in the first floor.

"_The Wind have mercy, he's coming!"_ Riho had screamed deliriously at her the moment Sakura opened the clinic door.

Tenten had instantly sprung to Sakura's side then, and Lee and Neji had conveniently disappeared into the second floor of the house.

Of course it had been but a simple false contraction, and calming Riho down had taken until morning.

"Tea?" Tenten offered as she stood up as if to walk towards the door leading to the balcony.

"Don't open the door!" The words were no sooner out of Sakura's mouth before she could stop herself.

Sai's eyebrows inched up his forehead at her reaction but chose not to say anything. For the past week since Team Gai had arrived in Gifu, the Root Agent had changed. Of course, she wasn't expecting anything less from him. Because Sai did not necessarily possess a personality of his own, he had begun adapting to his mission by taking up a certain _'role' _applicable for the situation. This was not new to Sakura. When the boy had first joined Team Seven, he had admitted to them that he was playing the part of the insensitive ass. When his goal from blending well with Team Seven changed to figuring out Naruto's bond with Sasuke, his personality had taken a turn-about in a short period of time. Sakura had quite liked his personality then. If anything, he had been like a child eager to learn, and at some point, she had actually liked being in his company, albeit the odd questions that he randomly spouted out of the blue.

But after Pain's attack and his priorities have changed, he was back to being the ass. An over-protective ass. She wondered if he had taken up the role from one of those idiotic books he'd read back in Konoha. It was not as if she didn't understand why. Having been trained since childhood to lose his emotions, it could only be expected he take up a personality fit for his mission. The perfect shinobi indeed.

When Sai had started acting overly protective of her, she'd assumed this was his take on being a fiancée. But it was starting to get really ridiculous to have him glued to her side, twenty-four-seven…

"Where are Neji and Lee?" Sakura asked as she settled down on the table across Sai and tucked her feet under her. She wondered why she even bothered to ask. Lee and Neji always trained in the mornings a few miles away from Gifu.

That was why she was surprised when Tenten laughed and said, "In a month's time is another celebration. Tomona said it's the Solstice, whatever that is. He said it was the men's duty to gather at the desert basin where Gifu's winter storehouse is and prepare for the event in advance." The weapons mistress rested her chin on her hand and shook her head ruefully. "Is it just me, or do the people of Gifu celebrate too much?"

Sakura nodded. "They do. But then again, there really isn't anything better to do than celebrate." Her attention shifted to Sai. "If the men have gone to the desert basin, then why are _you_ here?"

Sai blinked, that annoying blank stare directed at her. "Because I don't feel comfortable being away from you."

Sakura scowled at him, but couldn't ignore the blood rising to her face. This, too, was another noticeable change since Team Gai's arrival; Sai had been more than generous at putting his thoughts to freaky words of endearment that were used to either ridicule her, or embarrass her.

Tenten giggled happily as she sipped her tea. "Why don't you two just start kissing again and get this little argument over with?"

Sakura gasped in horror as Tenten started making kissy faces in the air. How many times did she have to rub it in her face, that time when she was drunk and had apparently tackled Sai and kissed him? If it weren't for the fact that the young people of the colony had started imitating it as proof that it really did happen, Sakura wouldn't have believed it.

"I was drunk! You can't hold that against me"" Sakura protested, pulling her blanket tighter around her shoulders like some barrier.

Sai, as usual, looked like having received – _stolen!_ – her first kiss was not anything out of the ordinary. The annoying, emotionless wonder was… well… _emotionlessly_ watching her under his dark bangs that had grown uncomfortably long over his forehead. A part of her wanted to reach out and brush back his hair out of his eyes.

Another part of her wanted to yank it hard until he went bald.

"I'm not holding it against you. If anything, I'd have preferred not have let you know about it. I know how you women value insignificant things like first kisses and virginity and the like. I personally don't get why but I don't plan to find out about the reasons behind the insanity."

This time, Tenten stopped her kissy face and gave Sai a sharp, evil look mirroring Sakura's. She didn't say anything, however.

Sai gestured at Tenten. "See? I told you we should have just kept it a secret from her. If she didn't know she had kissed me, everyone could have pretended nothing happened and it wouldn't have been this complicated."

"Stop talking as if I'm not here," Sakura injected.

Tenten sniffed hurriedly. "She would have found out anyway, because Riho asked her several times if that was how lovers greeted each other after being separated for a period of time."

Sai looked at Sakura, interested. "And what did you say?"

Sakura turned her eyes away. "What else could I have said that wouldn't make it suspicious enough as it was?"

Sai was _really _interested now. "But then we would have to do it every time we part ways then meet again."

Sakura felt a muscle on her face twitch. "Not if I'm not drunk," she hissed.

Sai leaned back, his deadpanned eyes showing a rare display of amusement. "Ah, that's a relief. At least I know you'd stay away from alcohol if ever I'm away. I trust you can take care of yourself when sober."

Tenten grinned eagerly. "Riho asked Sakura if she put her tongue in your mouth. Did she?"

Sakura, face heating up amidst the cold air in the room, ignored Tenten. "I can take care of myself, sober or not."

Sai nodded at Tenten, answering her earlier question. "She did. Put it in, I mean."

Sakura let out an outraged gasp. "How dare you accuse me – "

Sai tilted forward, looming his face near Sakura a few inches too close, impressing upon her that he was not about to let her have her anger give her an excuse to change the subject. "Enough. You were drunk, dancing and having a good time when I came back from the trade. You were in no position to protect yourself from an enemy that was luckily not present at that time."

Sakura backed away from him, feeling suddenly claustrophobic. She bit her lower lip guiltily. She knew she was letting her pride get in the way of sound reasoning. Sai was right; she had been careless. The fact that Team Gai was able to find them this easily meant there was a big, big possibility of others – friend _or_ foe – doing the same. Her mission was to stay alive. It was the last mission her _Shishou_ had appointed to her before leaving the Leaf. If, by any chance, Team Gai really was sent by Danzo, they would have been able to beat her into submission and most probably hauled her back to Konoha without breaking a sweat.

This fact had already registered in her brain the day after Sai had returned from Nikoro. She didn't apologize for her carelessness. Sai never blamed her for it to begin with. Sakura still felt bad every time it crossed her mind. Or maybe it was _because_ Sai never blamed her for it that she felt bad.

"Now, now. We don't have to fight this early in the morning," Tenten coaxed, waving a hand idly as if to brush the heavy tension away. "That happened days ago, Sai. No need to bring back… err… unpleasant memories – "

"It would have been even more unpleasant if Root agents were sent instead of Team Gai," Sai interrupted, pushing his mug of tea away from him calmly. "While you were busy drinking away for the sake of fitting in, a man named Shimura Danzo is plotting to find you and two of the most celebrated scrolls in Medical _Ninjutsu_ history. What's your excuse?"

Sakura lowered her chin to her chest. "I'm not making excuses. I won't." She rubbed her nose preventing the sneeze that came close to coming out. She tried to wrack her brain for a smart comeback. Nothing came to mind.

Sai took this silence as an opportunity to stand up and make his way to the small vanity by the window, which was closed to keep whatever heat the first floor hearth could provide. "I'm not much into making a big deal out of petty little things, and I'm not fond of telling people what to do. But to keep you alive is my mission. And I take my missions seriously. I hope you take _your _mission seriously, too."

Sakura sat still, but she found herself nodding. She knew she deserved the scolding. "I am. Taking it seriously, I mean." She knew what Sai meant. Tsunade-sama's orders were crystal-clear; _stay alive_.

Tenten leaned her elbows against the table, honestly looking lost. "Uhm, should I leave?" she asked tentatively.

Sai, who was now putting on his fingerless gloves leisurely, nodded briskly. "I think that would be for the best. Sakura and I need to talk about something that would not concern you."

Tenten took it as the dismissal that it was, however tactless Sai had put it, and she picked up her mug of tea as she stood. "I'll be downstairs, then." And she left without another word.

Sakura could only watch her leave helplessly. It was not as if she was scared of Sai, but she dreaded what he was going to ask her, partly because she knew what it would be about.

Sai returned to his seat on the table across her, and he watched her cautiously with those dark eyes of his. Sakura didn't know if he sensed her discomfort. That would be a joke, of course. Sai was an assassin. Obviously he could sense the tiniest bit of agitation from a person. "The second scroll. I know that whatever is in it, you could be the only one capable of understanding it. Is everything going fine?"

The sudden change of subject caught Sakura by surprise. She could remember having mentioned to Sai once or twice the order Katsuyu-sama had given Sakura after having been reverse-summoned the night before Sai left for Nikoro.

"…_Tsunade-sama wants you to open the other scroll, and master it by heart. And then, you are to destroy it."_

True to her word, and obedient to Tsunade-sama's Familiar, Sakura had opened the scroll and tried to master what was written in it.

It was the scroll for the Fifth Hokage's Recreation Rebirth _Jutsu_.

And hadn't Sai's eyes nearly _bulged_ at the revelation that Sakura had suddenly inherited the one and only technique that came close to immortality?

Sakura looked over at the loose tile beneath her dresser where she had hidden the summoning scroll along with the second scroll. Every time she would bring the scroll out to study it, she felt like there were invisible eyes watching her. Of course this was merely her paranoia. She knew how important the _Jutsu_ was. And hadn't _Orochimaru_ himself wanted the technique at some point?

"Studying it isn't the problem. The logic behind it is easy to understand, almost to the point of simple. The _execution_ is the big problem," Sakura explained as she tilted forward onto the table and stretched her arms in front of her. The cold made her recoil back into her blanket and she shivered.

Sai was watching her intently. "The execution?"

The Creation Rebirth was developed by Tsunade for the main purpose of protecting the lives of her comrades. The jutsu involves concentrating chakra to a specific spot – in Tsunade-sama's case, her forehead – and takes the form of a diamond. Once the seal was released, the accumulated chakra disperses and stimulates cell-division and cell reconstruction for as long as there was enough dispensable chakra within the user. This allows the user to heal, or better yet, _recreate_ tissues, or even organs thus dubbing it as the pinnacle of medical jutsu.

But anything that good could only require a big, big sacrifice.

The technique does not regenerate old cells; rather it hastens the creation of new ones. And that could only mean that releasing the seal shortens the user's life, to what degree, Sakura was never going to find out.

The conversation she's had with Katsuyu-sama echoed through her brain once more.

"_It contains jutsu even the great Orochimaru himself wanted. Tsunade-sama believes Danzo would make an attempt at claiming its secrets. It should not fall in their hands. Do you understand?"_

Of course she didn't. At that time, she didn't know it was the freaking Creation Rebirth scroll… But Katsuyu-sama was not finished then. The Familiar made sure to warn Sakura about it.

"_Although Tsunade-sama has requested you to master the jutsu in theory, she forbids you to use it. Is that clear? You shall not use it. There are no conditions to this. You are allowed to know the theory behind the jutsu, but you shall not release it. Is that understood?"_

And only after finding out what the scroll contained did she fully understand what the slug meant.

"The _Jutsu_ requires the user to concentrate an amount of chakra on a certain point on her body. Think of it as insurance. Or better yet, a piggy bank. You save chakra little by little and store it in one place and never use it except for emergencies. That in itself is easy to understand. But…" Sakura's voice faltered as she fell into deep thought. How did Tsunade-sama do it?

"But what?" Sai asked. His face gave away the bit of curiosity he was able to express lately.

"But maintaining the flow of chakra to that point is hard."

"Hard?"

Sakura frowned. "I don't know how Tsunade-sama does it. I tried storing a bit of chakra on one point on my forehead when I was waiting for patients yesterday. I knew I was doing it right, but when Tenten came into the clinic to hand me a cup of tea, I got distracted and I accidentally cut the chakra flow from that point, and I lost whatever amount of chakra I've stored."

Sai placed a wondering finger on his chin. "Hm… The jutsu needs a continuous trickle of chakra from the user twenty-four, seven?"

"Pretty much so." Sakura scratched her forehead, frustrated. "I can't hold the flow of chakra forever."

"Why is that?" Sai asked.

"I don't know, because I have to _sleep _and _eat_ and_ do_ other stuff because that's what humans do?" Sakura said sarcastically.

"That must be tough," Sai said blandly.

Sakura gave him a dirty look for his attempt at empathy, then she closed her eyes and sighed. "I can't learn the jutsu alone. I need guidance. I need someone to teach me."

And that was when Sai said something that made Sakura's pride flare. "Before I joined Team Seven, I took it on my behalf to research about you and Naruto. I found out that Naruto, before he became a _Genin_, was able to master the Shadow Clone Technique from a forbidden scroll by simply reading it. He didn't have a teacher. He didn't have any guidance. And the _Jutsu_ is _Jounin_-level."

Sakura let out an outraged gasp. "Are you telling me that Naruto can do better than I?"

Sai shook his head. "No. _You're _telling yourself that Naruto can do better than you. Naruto isn't necessarily stupid, but he isn't especially smart, either. But he has determination. _Guts_. You, on the other hand, _are _smart. If you stop being too pessimistic, and start believing in yourself more, you can figure this out. Tsunade-sama wouldn't have handed you this scroll if she didn't believe in you."

Sakura's jaw nearly dropped. Did Sai just compliment her right now? She shook herself before her imagination went away with her. "Believe me. I'm trying my best."

"Well, so long as you don't give up before you've really tried everything, then I guess I have nothing else to say. Actually, I prefer not saying anything because it might not sit well with you and having a verbal argument with you is too time-consuming." Sai made to leave for the door to the second floor veranda. "We should make breakfast," he proposed.

Biting back the snap that was threatening to come out of her mouth, Sakura pushed herself up from the chair she was warming and tried to ignore the chilly air that seeped through the folds of her blanket. "Fine. I'll start making the food if you start a fire."

"All right." The Root Agent tilted his head sideways. "Well?"

Sakura raised her eyebrows. "I'll be waiting here. You know, where it's warm and – "-

"You're coming with me."

"Why?" Sakura demanded.

"Because I don't feel comfortable being away from you with Tenten in the house."

Feeling too drained to even counter his answer, Sakura groaned. "Have you forgotten I could actually defend myself? You know, super-human punches and the like?"

Sai stared at her silently.

Sakura shook her head. "It's cold outside. I'd rather stay here," she whined, sounding like a child even to herself.

Sai continued to stare at her before finally nodding as his hand reached out for the door knob. As usual, his face held no evidence of exasperation, understanding or the slightest bit of annoyance. And, in a rare display of chivalry, said, "All right. I'll make a quick trip to the well and gather some water, then call you when the fire's ready. It will only take a minute."

Of course it would only have taken but a minute, _if_ Noa hadn't suddenly jumped Sai the moment he opened the door, letting in a painfully cold gust of air with her. Sakura watched in pure boredom as the two went rolling around on the floor, eventually stopping by the foot of their cot with Noa straddling Sai around the waist.

Aside from Sai's insistence on being glued to Sakura's side like an insufferable leech, the fact that Noa seemed to have developed a… _thing_ for Sai was another pain Sakura had to deal with in the past days. The feisty girl was almost always _everywhere_, so long as Sai was there.

At first Sakura didn't know exactly what to think the first time the Noa girl popped out of nowhere to harass her supposed fiancée. The second day left her utterly confused. By the third day, Sakura had just stopped caring altogether. It was starting to get so utterly ridiculous that she had decided that she was just too busy with more important matters than a girl with a crush on her teammate.

It seemed that Sai was also getting used to it. Of course his face never gave away anything. His reaction to seeing Noa on top of him was the same reaction he had when Lee tried to make him dance the erotic dances he's learned from the Welcoming. Which meant he had _no _reaction at all.

Sakura felt a muscle twitch on her cheek as she watched Sai grab Noa by the neck of her robes as he got up into a sitting position.

"Why do you do that?" Sai asked the girl patiently when he finally managed to peel her away from him.

Noa, whose green eyes were fixated onto the floor, puffed up her cheeks stubbornly and refused to talk. She sat with her legs beneath her as Sai shoved himself off of the floor and onto a standing position, brushing his bottom lightly.

Sakura made her way to the door and hurriedly closed it shut, stopping the heat from escaping any further. Shivering suddenly as she returned to the table, she turned to Sai. "Well, if you're going out, make sure you take her with you."

That was when Noa looked up and stuck her tongue out to Sakura childishly.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Oh, _please_. Spare me the spoiled-brat act and do your tribal mating ritual somewhere else, preferably away from here. Far, _far _away."

Noa's face reddened a few shades closer to her hair color and looked like she was going to retaliate when Sai stepped in between them.

"What perfect timing." Sai turned from Noa to Sakura, then back again. "The stalker-girl can stay with you while I'm away."

Sakura blinked at Sai a few times and laughed. "What? I'm sorry, but I thought I heard you say this little poop monster will stay with me while you're away."

Noa nearly bristled. "I'd rather die in my sleep," she hissed as she made a lunge for Sai's leg and clung to it like her life depended on it.

"You two can keep each other occupied while I'm not here." Sai pointed at Noa who was still clinging to his leg. "She can fight."

As if _that_ explained everything. Couldn't Sai see that Noa hated her guts?

Oh, wait… This was Sai. Of course he couldn't see that Noa hated her guts.

Sakura shook her head. "No, no, no. You have to take her with you. She doesn't want to be here, anyway. Right, stalker-girl?"

"The name's Noa, and _no_, I don't want to be here," Noa snarled, then looked up at Sai pointedly. "I told you that I'm not going to protect your…_whatever she is to you_."

"I'm not asking you to," Sai said simply as he looked down at her. "I'm just asking you to stay."

"And why do I have to listen to what _you _say?"

Sakura had to hand it to the girl. She, too, wanted to know the answer to that.

"Because," Sai started. "I'm asking you nicely." And he held Noa's stare with those indifferent, glassy eyes of his.

Sakura sighed. As if that was enough reason for Noa to listen to him. Or that was what she thought. And that's why she nearly fell off her seat when Noa's face reddened even further and she looked away.

"Fine. But that's because you asked nicely," Noa muttered as her arms slipped away from Sai's leg. She sat on the floor at the foot of their cot, fuming silently, once in a while glaring at Sakura and sometimes at the door.

"Thank you," Sai said, sounding anything but thankful. He hitched his robes neatly over his pants, smoothing out the wrinkles from Noa's earlier death grip. "I'll be back with water and firewood."

And with that, he left the Healer's house through the second floor exit, gently closing the door behind him and leaving Sakura and Noa in one of the heaviest silences of their lives.

Sakura, thinking she was the adult of the two (which was silly because Noa was the same age as she) thought it her job to start a civil, adult conversation.

"Would you like some tea?" Sakura offered.

"Screw you," Noa said.

"Why you little… !" Sakura tried to reign in her anger. "Why are you always so difficult? What is it I've done to make you hate me so much?"

While in normal circumstances, Sakura would just brush away petty things like these, she had to admit that she was a bit curious about the reason behind Noa's apparent dislike of her. It had been through experience that she'd learned that women tend to be quite spiteful of other women who likes the same man (though she was sure this couldn't possibly apply to her), but as far as she could remember, Noa had started hating Sakura the moment they had set foot in Gifu. As for Sai, the girl was obviously attracted – drawn? – to him. There were just too many annoying "I-don't-knows" surrounding the girl. And Sakura didn't think she could spare the patience to find out.

Noa narrowed her eyes at Sakura. "I don't like you because I _know _you bring trouble. I _know _you're not who you say you are. And I _know _you and Sai are not lovers."

Sakura tried to focus on what the girl had just said, and tried not to stand up and bolt after Sai. Sai had said something about Noa. Something about the girl being… _different_. It was not until now did Sakura finally understand what he meant. Sakura, instantly forgetting about the coldness of the room, the freezing tiles beneath her feet, slipped a hand under her robes for the ever-handy kunai she always had tucked under her belt.

The moment her fingers gripped the warm steel handle of the weapon, Noa's head shot up with a snap, the fear in those startling green eyes of hers evident.

Sakura felt her hand let go of the kunai instantly. This girl… _what was she? _Did she tell anyone in Gifu of their true identities? Did Sai know that Noa knew? It was like the girl could _read _her. Well, whatever she was, it was obvious she wasn't a mere civilian.

Right?

Resolve once more awakened, she pulled the kunai out of her robes and held it in front of her. "How do you know about us?" she demanded.

The frightened look was still there as Noa's hands clenched into fists. "I don't know. I just… _know_…" Noa herself finding no sense in what she just said, wiped her nose with her knuckles and said, "I just feel it. It's all around you."

Sakura looked around her in confusion. _All around her?_ She did not know what the girl was talking about. She let the blankets fall around her feet and she advanced towards Noa cautiously. She knew drawing out a weapon was probably overkill for a girl who had no fighting experience altogether, but if Noa was going to be a possible reason for their cover to be blown in Gifu, then she had to do what she had to do.

Sakura hesitated. What _was _she to do? Kill the girl? Yeah, and risk getting banished from Gifu? But a kunoichi thrived on deception. She could always fool the colony into thinking it an accident…

And that was when Noa backed herself further, her shoulders running against the foot of their cots. She held her arms in front of her like a shield. "You're going to kill me, aren't you? I won't let you! Like hell I'm going to let you touch me!"

And when Noa scuttled across the floor to grab the nearest possible weapon she could use – in this case, Sakura's hairbrush – that was when Sakura actually felt slightly ashamed of herself. Here the girl was waving around a _hairbrush_ while Sakura was threatening her with a weapon. Groaning inwardly, she tossed the kunai carelessly on top of the table, where it made a dull clang against the wooden surface. Noa's grip didn't slacken on the hairbrush, her wide eyes darting from Sakura to the kunai and back again.

"You know what? I don't care why you hate me. I've tried to talk to you before about trying to compromise, but that led to absolutely nowhere, so I'm not going to go there again. But I'm going to ask you this; _'What the heck do you want from me?'_"

Noa's mouth dropped open, and the hairbrush lowered a fraction in front of her. The frightened look in her eyes disappeared, replaced by wariness. "What I want?"

"Yes. What do you want? Do you want me to get out of Gifu? You want me to get out of your grandma's house? You want me to leave Sai alone?" Sakura crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, I'll have you know, I won't be leaving Gifu, and I actually like living in your grandma's house. As for Sai, well you can have him if – "

"No," Noa whispered so quietly that Sakura almost missed it.

"Excuse me?" Sakura asked, leaning forward to strain an ear towards the girl.

"I said, no. It's not that. Sai… " Noa dropped the brush onto the floor, and her chin fell to her chest. "He's different from anyone I've ever met."

Sakura wrinkled her nose. Noa's talk about why she was attracted to Sai was something Sakura didn't want to hear. She eyed the stairs longingly and willed Tenten to come back.

Noa looked up at her, and their eyes met. Sakura frowned when she saw the confusion in her face. "I can't read him. There are moments… _glimpses_… when I can see what's inside his heart, but majority of the time I don't know what he's thinking." Noa narrowed her eyes at Sakura. "It's the first time in my life to meet anyone who… doesn't betray their emotions. And I can't read him. What… _what is Sai?"_

Sakura felt the small hairs at the back of her neck stand on end at the revelation of Noa's unheard of ability, and the wheels in her head started to turn. Oh, wouldn't Ibiki Morino _love_ to have this little gem in his Torture and Interrogation Force back in Konoha? "Noa… You – ?"

Sakura wasn't able to finish her sentence. The door of the veranda suddenly slammed open, admitting an intolerable cold gust of wind. Sakura and Noa jumped in their place and their heads swerved towards the door.

Sakura let out a strangled gasp. Noa was on her feet in a second, hurrying to the middle of the room, her whole body shaking that Sakura knew had nothing to do with the cold.

There, outlined by the doorframe looking absolutely stoic and emotionless, was Sai. And in his arms was a writhing Riho who looked like she was in so much pain that she was curled up and clutching Sai around his neck with one arm tightly. Her other hand was wrapped protectively around her stomach.

"I think," Sai said calmly, his eyes meeting Sakura's. "I think the baby's coming."

* * *

Shikamaru found himself in the newly rebuilt Konoha Library, looking over the bare shelves standing in neat rows throughout the broad expanse of linoleum floor. All the contents of those shelves were wiped out during Pain's attack, and Shikamaru knew it would take years and years to get them back. He sighed and dug into his pockets for his pack of cigarettes, then slipped one between his lips. He knew he was indoors, but he didn't think anyone would give a damn if he smoked in a library no one was using. Heck, this couldn't even be called a library, right?

"Have you been avoiding me?"

Shikamaru didn't have to look over his shoulder to know who was standing behind him. He lit the cigarette lazily with Asuma's lighter but didn't take his first deep drag. "And why would I do something as bothersome as that?"

"I don't know. Because it's even more bothersome having to face me?"

And as usual, she caught him again. He slipped one hand into his pants pockets and turned to face Temari. The Sand kunoichi was leaning on one of the tables, her arms crossed over her stomach, her face twisted into a frown Shikamaru had seen many times in the past. He had hoped she wouldn't come to the Leaf at such a time when loyalties were divided into two. Not to mention his certain '_predicament'_.

"What are you doing here?" Shikamaru asked.

Temari raised a perfectly arched brow at him and threw a small pouch bag on the table she was leaning on. "I brought you lunch. You didn't show up at Ichiraku's so Ino asked me to bring you this."

Shikamaru grimaced. "I… ah. Yeah." He had completely forgotten about the promise he'd made with Ino and Chouji to meet at Ichiraku's with Temari. "Were they mad?"

Temari was watching him with eyes like that of a hawk's, ignoring his question. "You aren't yourself. You haven't been ever since I've arrived in Konoha. What are you hiding from me?"

Shikamaru lowered the hand holding his cigarette and looked down at the pouch on the table. "I'm not hiding anything. I'm just very busy." He didn't even know why he had to explain anything to her. And he was even more confused as to why she even bothered to ask.

"Busy with what?"

"I'm not entitled to answer your questions," Shikamaru said, irritated. He felt utterly conscious of the seal on his tongue, and his free hand flew to his throat.

The gesture did not go unnoticed by Temari, and the kunoichi took a sudden step forward, forcing Shikamaru a step back. "If you tell me what's going on, I may be able to help you." She looked over her shoulder quickly as if to check if they were still alone. She returned her gaze back to Shikamaru and said, "Ever since the regime changed, _you've _changed. It's the Hokage, isn't it?"

The hand holding the cigarette twitched slightly, and Shikamaru raised it back to his mouth. "What can you expect from a Village resurrected from absolute nothingness? Change is imperative. Danzo and Tsunade are two different people. And though I can't say I like Danzo personally, he _is _the Hokage. And he's doing a damn good enough job to keeping the Leaf alive."

"What on earth are you talking about? What do you mean, _alive?_ Naruto is missing and Tsunade, who was the only reason why majority of Konoha's population is still alive, is gone with him. Where was Danzo then? He slithers out of his little hole when everything was practically destroyed and gets the Hokage title by default."

Shikamaru didn't take his eyes off the pouch. "It wasn't by default. The title was supposed to be Kakashi's. When he refused, there weren't any other choices."

"Kakashi?" Temari asked in disbelief. "But… why didn't he want to become the Hokage? Gaara's been worried sick about the treaty." This was the only time Shikamaru raised his eyes back to look at Temari. The woman's blue eyes were clouded over with hurt.

"The Leaf and the Sand will always be allies, so long as Naruto and Gaara are alive. So long as you and I are alive." Shikamaru plucked at his flak jacket and pulled a portable ashtray from the front pocket. "I don't see why you're so worried about Leaf affairs. This really isn't any of your concern, no offense or anything."

Temari followed the cigarette with her eyes as Shikamaru stuffed it into the ashtray. "None taken. But sorry to say this, but I do think that it _has_ something to do with the Sand."

"And why is that?"

"Because… we know where Sakura is and – what the – ? What are you – ahh!"

Shikamaru had slammed his hand across Temari's mouth and shoved her against the table, causing her upper body to lean back, nearly knocking away the pouch containing his lunch. Her eyes widened further when Shikamaru leaned his face so close to hers and hissed, "Don't. Say. _Anything_." As if she would be able to say anything with his hand on her mouth.

Temari grabbed his wrist feebly with one hand and nodded silently. Great. Just when Shikamaru thought everything was going according to his plan, a trump card in the form of Temari shows up. He groaned inwardly. He wondered what Danzo would do when he finds out someone who knows Sakura's whereabouts is actually within arm's reach.

No one has to know. No one has to freaking _know_ about this.

Temari pried his hand away from her face. "Shikamaru?"

"What?"

"You smell like a freaking ashtray. Get the hell out of my face."

Well, at least he didn't have to worry about this trump card too much.

* * *

Sai found himself at a loss for words and practically nothing to do for the last hour since he'd brought Riho in. He had been on his way to the well to gather water when he met Riho half way towards the Healer's house. She had looked like she was in a lot of pain, and when he went to her to offer any assistance, the woman had grabbed his arm and begged him to take her to Sakura immediately.

"_The wind help me, it's time,"_ she had said in between gasps as she held onto him desperately.

And in everything Sai had learned in his Root training, he found himself, for the first time, unsure of what to do. He had abandoned the vat he'd brought to collect water, hoisted Riho into his arms and dashed back to Sakura as fast as his legs could carry him.

But now he sat on the stairs listening to Riho grunt and cry and whine and scream for the past hour. Much to his surprise, Noa was the one supporting Sakura throughout the procedure.

"Noa. More hot water," Sai heard Sakura said over Riho's noises.

"Here you go," was Noa's answer.

"You can do it, Riho," came Tenten's soothing voice. The weapons mistress had been by Sakura's side the whole while, though Sai doubted she had been anything but mere moral support.

"How are you feeling, Riho?" Sakura asked.

"Like I am giving birth to a gigantic watermelon," answered Riho.

"Just breathe. Steady breathing. You're doing fine," said Sakura, and Sai heard her rewash the towel she had been using. "Sai? Are you there?"

Sai's head shot up when he heard her call him. "What is it?"

"Oh… Nothing. I just thought you're somewhere else."

Sai paused, then asked, "Do you need me somewhere else?"

Sakura was silent for a few seconds before saying, "No. Just… stay close. In case I might need you… yeah…"

Sai lowered his head back and nodded, even though he knew Sakura couldn't see him. "I'm right here. Call me if you need anything."

"Thanks. I – _oww! _What did you do that for?" Sakura suddenly wailed.

Sai once again raised his head curiously.

"What?" came Noa's voice. "You were distracted. Your patient's about to give birth. Stay focused."

"May I remind you I'm the Healer here?" Sakura said.

"Shut up," Noa said.

"Oh, it hurts!" Riho wailed.

"Hang in there, Riho!" Tenten cheered.

Sai tried to block out whatever followed the conversation of the four females down in the clinic and settled with flipping a kunai from one hand to another. This was one thing he's read about women when in a group; men should just butt out of it.

It lasted for another thirty or so minutes before Sakura let out a victorious sound followed by loud, boisterous crying of a small human being. Sai didn't even know what had come over him when he suddenly sprang to his feet and bolted down the stairs in a hurry. He scanned the clinic just in time to see Tenten hurry out through the back door carrying a bucket, obviously off to gather more hot water from the kitchens outside. Noa was now wiping and talking in hushed whispers to a very exhausted-looking Riho, who still was sprawled on her back, legs spread apart, her blood covering the lower half of the cot she was occupying.

And then there was Sakura.

And in her arms was a very, very tiny little creature blotted with brownish-red blood. It was crying quite loudly and was squirming energetically against the pink-haired kunoichi's chest. Sakura had succeeded in wrapping the baby in piles and piles of white cloth.

Sai felt the kunai drop from his hands and his eyes widened when they met Sakura's. In her eyes were tears that he had never seen her shed before. And while he had always known Sakura to wear her heart in her sleeve and cry about the littlest of things that made little sense to Sai, it was the first time he had seen her cry because of pure, utter happiness.

"Riho. It's a boy!" Sakura said, though her eyes never left Sai's.

"Riho? Stay with us, Riho," Noa said gently as she continued to wipe the newly-turned mother's face with a towel.

Riho, breathing hard, looked over at Sakura, and amidst her sweat and tears, smiled and said, "Does he have pink hair?"

Sakura shook her head and turned to Riho saying, "No. He has your hair. And your eyes."

Riho laughed softly. "Darned it all," she said jokingly.

Sakura gently rubbed the baby in attempts to make it calm down. "You did a good job, Riho. Now I know you're tired, but I need to ask you to try to push a bit more and deliver the placenta out. Can you do that for me?"

Riho nodded weakly. "Of course…"

Sakura once again returned her look back to Sai. "Come here, Sai. I need your help."

Sai took an involuntary step back. "What?"

"I need you to hold the baby for Riho while I disinfect the – why are you looking at me like that?" Sakura asked as she tilted her head to the side, examining him peculiarly.

Sai snapped himself out of the unexpected trance he had fallen into and staggered towards Sakura. He did not know what had suddenly gotten over him. While the atmosphere within the clinic smelled of the same coppery smell of blood after a battle, he felt something uneasy at the back of his neck, like an itch he just couldn't scratch. The feeling intensified when Sakura nodded at him and held out the crying little baby for him to hold.

Awkwardly, almost clumsily, Sai took the baby from Sakura's arms, holding it a few inches away from him. It was small, and just like Sakura said, it had blond hair. Its eyes were closed so he wasn't so sure if she was right about the eyes, but as Sakura turned away from him and leaned down to treat Riho, that was when the questions started pouring out, and much to his surprise, Sakura answered everything with patience she had never shown him before.

"Why is it blue?"

"All newborns are blue. It turns normal after a few minutes once the baby takes in enough oxygen. Don't worry."

"This gross, white substance… What is it?"

"It's called vernix caseosa. It protects the baby against bacteria."

"Why won't it stop crying?"

"It's the only way he can communicate. We'll figure that out later after I treat the mother… Tenten? The hot water?"

Sai looked down at the baby. While Sai had been firing away questions at Sakura, the baby somehow, for some weird reason, was able to reach out and grab a small fistful of his robes. The contact could hardly have been noticed by him on normal circumstances, but at that moment, Sai did not understand the sudden overwhelming indefinable _'thing' _that had sprouted from somewhere in his chest.

Now, if Sai weren't Sai, he would have smiled, cuddled the little newborn to his chest, and maybe would have welcomed him into the world. If he weren't Sai, he would have congratulated Riho, shown her the baby and told him how cute he was.

But he _was _Sai. And so he didn't smile. He didn't cuddle the little newborn to his chest. He did not congratulate Riho or shown her the baby, nor did he tell her he was cute.

Because he _was_ Sai, the only thing his body was able to do was hold the baby at arms length and stare at it in awe. And in place of a smile, Sai felt a single tear form at the corner of one eye he could not even explain the cause of.

Because he was Sai, who had all his life been trained to kill, now had a very tiny, very insignificant life in the hands that usually brought death.

Looking over the baby in his hands, he watched Sakura's pink head bob up and down as she animatedly talked to Riho encouragingly as she worked the final procedures of the birth. And while Sai had always seen Sakura fight, and had known there were several number of times she was forced to kill, he could not believe he was lucky enough to see the moment when she had chosen to bring a life instead of taking it.

And it was then, probably, without him even knowing it, did he start seeing Haruno Sakura in an all new different light.

And everything was good.

* * *

**_TBC_**


	11. Storm Brewing

**Chapter Eleven**

**Storm Brewing**

* * *

The colony, as days passed, grew colder and busier, and Sakura found herself just as busy with the flow of patients coming in and out of the clinic. Majority of the patients were men with strained muscles who have been eagerly preparing for the Solstice that was fast approaching.

As usual, because of Team Gai's presence in the colony, Sai had been ever vigilant. There wasn't a moment in the day that he left her side longer than an hour, and if he ever was forced to leave, the Root agent only did so after asking Noa to keep Sakura company.

The fact, at first, did not sit well with Sakura, but she was surprised to discover that ever since the birth of Riho's baby boy, which was almost a week and a half ago, Noa had been relatively tolerable. The times when Noa kept with Sakura, the girl merely sat on a stool in the corner of the clinic, once in a while standing to look over Sakura's shoulder while the kunoichi worked with several herbs to be turned into ointments. Sakura could sometimes see Noa taking down notes whenever she thought Sakura wasn't looking.

The only time the girl would stop being civil was when Sai showed up. Yes, that made everything quite difficult…

Ever since Noa had divulged the information about her unique talent to _'read' _people, Sakura had started thinking about it whenever she wasn't busy enough. At first she had assumed the girl was a sensory-type… ninja? Civilian? What? But that was just Sakura's hunch. What bothered her the most was the part when the girl said she couldn't _'read' _Sai. Deducting everything from what little hints here and there she had observed, Sakura came to the conclusion that Noa's ability involved emotions, and Sai having an emotional capacity below than the average male, made it difficult for her to understand.

What was another mystery to Sakura, however, was that having Noa around was easier than having Sai around.

The Root agent had found a different way of annoying her by sitting at a distance away and watching her intently from under his overgrown hair and that stupid, stupid floppy hat he had taken to wearing again for some unknown reason. Sakura supposed it was to keep his hair under control, but what Sai didn't seem to realize was that it just made him look… _weird_. That was all and well, but what annoyed Sakura was the fact that his presence made her uncomfortable, especially since he had once again taken up a totally different personality ever since baby Valu's birth.

Sai was being… _nice _to her.

His sudden change of personality involved gaining a healthy amount of tact that even Tenten thought strange. Gone were the uncomfortable truths that came out as snappy remarks, and gone were the deadpanned stares he always threw at her before. If anything, his looks were replaced with – _something_ – unreadable going behind those usually flat eyes.

And that moment was probably the most unbearable of all. For a reason Sakura didn't know, Sai had become an unwelcome distraction she would have been happy without. And that fact did little for her headache she was experiencing right now.

"Let me have those," Sai said to her as he suddenly appeared out of nowhere to collect the huge bundle of towels from her arms as she made her way across the clinic to deposit the used linens in the laundry basket.

A few towels fell to the floor and Sakura bent down to pick them up. "It's all right. I have them." She tossed the towels on top of the pile of linens in Sai's arms and moved to take them back.

Sai shifted the pile away from her. "No. I have them." And he turned towards the laundry basket in the corner of the back door of the clinic. Much to Sakura's dismay, a green blur intercepted the Root agent.

"It is_ I _who would help Sakura with the laundry," Lee said as he snatched the pile of linens from Sai. A few more towels scattered to the floor.

Sakura could only groan inwardly. And who could forget another factor to the stress she's been experiencing lately? This was going to be a long, long migraine. And to think it was barely noon...

Lee was like another cloud in her horizon when he learned that Sakura and Sai were posing as a soon-to-be married couple in Gifu. It appeared that Sakura kissing Sai in public did not sit well with Lee, and him taking action on his disapproval of their little disguise came in the form of making Sai his _'love rival'_. Not only was it annoying, but it was plain embarrassing.

Sai calmly picked the fallen articles and sighed. He did not look like he was annoyed. If anything, he looked as he always looked: uncaring. "I offered first," he said.

Lee's mouth opened and closed like a fish, and it was obvious he was looking for a wise comeback. When he obviously couldn't find any, he hugged the laundry to himself as if his life depended on it, and ran like crazy outside the clinic with the towels. Sai and Sakura looked after him as if running amok was a normal thing for Lee, which it probably was.

Sai stared at the towels in his hand. "He forgot these… "

Sakura felt too drained and tired to even say anything as she made her way to her desk and sat behind it, feeling her head throb, already dreading the rest of the day. She looked up when a shadow fell beside her and saw Sai planting his hands on the corners of her desk, the towels conveniently abandoned on one of the unfolded cots in the middle of the clinic. The only thing that gave away whatever was inside his mind was the small vertical crease between his fine eyebrows.

"Do you want me to get feverfew from the garden?" he asked.

Sakura blinked up at him, her mouth slacking open before she could stop herself. She shook her head hurriedly, which she instantly stopped when she felt her world spin out of control. She squeezed her eyes shut. "I'm fine."

"You're lying."

"Eh?"

"You always pinch the bridge of your nose when your head hurts. I've seen it a few times before you grind a new batch of feverfew for your headache."

Sakura frowned. She did not even realize she had pinched her nose bridge. She did not even know Sai watched her little habits that even she didn't really put much attention to. "I'm just tired. I'm fine."

Sai's hands resting on the desk twitched before he suddenly reached out to her as if to touch her face.

Sakura instinctively moved her head back. Sai's hand paused a few inches from her forehead. "What are you doing?" she demanded.

Sai dropped his hand back on the desk. The crease between his eyebrows vanished and he straightened up. "Should I start a fire for lunch?"

As always, Sai changed subjects as smooth as a cactus. Sakura' eyebrows raised.. "Sure. Have Tenten and Neji come back?" The two had been dragged earlier in the morning by Tomona to help with the winterizing of the olive tree plantation.

"I saw them in the garden earlier, talking about something. I think Neji was scolding Tenten again."

Sakura could only sigh. The fact that Neji and Tenten had been acting like an old, married couple was the least of her worries, but to be honest it had really gotten her quite curious. There were times of the day when Tenten would volunteer to gather water from the well, and Neji would insist she stayed put while _he _went in her place. It was either Neji was being the perfect gentleman, or he was just insistent on having Tenten glued to Sakura's side. And every time Tenten _did _decide to stay behind, the weapons mistress would do nothing but push Sai and Sakura together, as if Sakura hadn't said it enough that they were merely _posing _as a couple. Tenten seemed to have found a new hobby of teasing her simply because Sai was no fun teasing; the boy just didn't know how to react to playful jesting, leaving Sakura as the lone target for Tenten's boredom.

Sakura closed her eyes and pinched her nose bridge again in irritation. This was going to be a very, very long day indeed…

Her eyes fluttered open when she felt cool and gentle fingers on either side of her head. Sai had snuck up behind her while she wasn't looking.

"Lean your head back a bit, all right?" Sai said as he slid his thumbs down the base of her skull, cradling her head in his hands with his forefingers still on her temples.

Feeling suddenly vulnerable for being caught off guard, she could only obey him as she slid lower in her chair and reclined her head on the backrest. When she looked up, she could see Sai upside down, looking blankly at her, the hair framing his face, plus the stupid hat, casting shadows that made his eyes even more unreadable than usual. Feeling her cheeks heat up, she opted to close her eyes and try to shut him out. When Sai's fingers started moving their way through her hair, she decided that closing her eyes was not such a good idea, because with nothing else to stimulate her mind, it started to run away with her. She forced to open her eyes and found Sai was no longer looking down at her but at something on the wall. The pads of his long fingers continued to knead her scalp, and the most unbelievable thing about it, was that he was actually good at it.

"You think too much. Try to relax a bit more," Sai muttered as his hand slipped beneath her ears where he continued to knead in little circles. "The colony's counting on you, and you know how your mission depends on that."

Sakura groaned when Sai hit a particularly good spot just below her ears. "I know, I know. The mission, right? Everything about the _mission_."

"Everything about _you_," he corrected, and that was when Sai returned his gaze down at her, those flat, dead fish eyes for a reason looking different than they always were. And his fingers froze at the base of her neck, making the tiny hairs there stand on end.

Sakura did not know why she couldn't avert her own stare from Sai's. She could feel the tips of his fingers, coarse and rough, on the skin of her neck, and she could feel her pulse beating against them as she felt her heartbeat hasten. Was it just her imagination or was Sai leaning even closer down to align his face with hers? She could feel his always bare abdomen, now under layers and layers of desert robes, press on the crown of her head as he moved closer.

"You're red. Are you coming down with a fever?" One of his hands moved from her neck and went as if to touch her forehead. And it felt like slow motion as Sai's hand hovered over her face, and Sakura followed it with wide, panicky eyes.

"We're home!"

Sakura catapulted to a standing position, sending Sai staggering back as her forehead smashed onto his jaw. He was thrown back onto the cabinets behind the desk, the chair toppling after him as Sakura scrambled as far away from Sai as she could go.

Tenten came waltzing into the clinic with a huge bundle of what looked like strange roots. "Hey, Sakura. You'll never guess what Tomona gave me for helping with the plantation." She looked up, a proud smile stretched across her face as she deposited the roots on one open table by the waiting area. She frowned when she saw Sai pressing a hand on his mouth as he straightened up the Healer's chair behind the desk. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously as she shifted her gaze to Sakura, who was now running her hands through her hair self-consciously. That had to be the perfect timing for Tenten to walk in, right?

"Ah…hah…" Tenten started. "Did I miss something?"

Sakura wiped her hands on her apron nervously, then gestured at the roots Tenten had brought in. "What are those?"

Tenten's face then brightened at the change of subject and she grandly gestured at the things she had brought in. "Cassava roots!"

Sakura blinked at her. "Cassava roots?"

Sai, who was now standing straighter but still had the back of his hand close to his mouth, stared at the pile dumbly, but didn't say anything. He was never very vocal when it came to Team Gai. He was still quite convinced that they were there to steal Sakura away.

Tenten ignored the Root member, and nodded at Sakura eagerly. "I've never really seen cassava roots before but there was one time I was able to eat a cassava dumpling on a mission. It was really good."

Sakura couldn't help but laugh. "I can ask Riho later for a recipe then. We can have these as dumplings later after dinner."

Tenten was happy. "I can't wait. I miss Konoha's dumplings…" and as if the happiness was seeped out of her by the mere memory of Konoha, her face fell and her shoulders sagged.

That was when Neji entered the clinic with another batch of cassava roots. The Hyuuga paused in mid-stride when he saw Sai, Tenten and Sakura standing silently. "What's going on?" he asked tentatively.

Sakura furrowed her brow as she looked from Neji then to Tenten, who was now looking at Neji. The weapons mistress forced a laugh. "I wanted to eat Konoha dumplings," she said in fake enthusiasm.

Neji didn't look like he believed his teammate but he nodded anyway. Then after a long silence he said, "Yeah. Me, too." He deposited the pile of roots on top of the ones Tenten brought in, then dusted the front of his robes. After hesitating a bit, he added, "Konoha's dumplings were the best."

That made Tenten laugh, this time genuinely. "They made great anmitsu, too." She turned excitedly to Sakura. "You liked their anmitsu, too, right Sakura?"

Sakura laughed nervously as the nostalgia swept onto her like a wave. Her heart was still racing from earlier when Sai had given her a massage, and catching her breath was close to impossible at the moment. She felt her knees buckle but was caught off-guard when Sai was suddenly by her side, his hand firmly supporting her elbow. She clung to his arm, grasping the sleeves of his robes. His other arm was around her the next moment. When Tenten made to rush to Sakura's side, Sai kept her away with a shake of his head.

"What's wrong?" Neji asked, and he too was by Tenten's side in a blink of an eye. His pearly eyes were pinned worriedly on Sakura.

Sakura let a small, unconvincing giggle. "It's nothing. I – "

"She's not feeling well," Sai interrupted, the arm around her waist tightening more.

Neji scowled at Sai, and Tenten worriedly shifted from one foot to another.

"I'm fine," Sakura countered as she looked up at Sai only to see him return her stare with his signature blank one. "Really. I am."

Tenten took a small step forward and squinted at Sakura's face. "You do look a bit red in the face…"

Having Tenten point out that she was red in the face made her blush even more. Sakura was sure Tenten hadn't been able to see Sai leaning down on her while giving her a massage, right? Sakura touched her hands onto her face self-consciously. "It must be the heat."

"It's winter," Neji pointed out bluntly. "Maybe you should just close the clinic. You don't have any more patients for the day. Oh, except for Riho, right?"

Sakura nodded. "She's coming over around three."

"You should just rest, then." Tenten said. "Leave lunch to me."

That was when Neji let out a strangled gasp. "You? Cook lunch?"

It may have been an unintentional insult from the Hyuuga, but Tenten caught onto it and had her fists on her hips indignantly. "I can cook, you know."

And it may have been unintentional for Neji to take two steps away from Tenten, his hands raised in front of him as if to ward the weapons mistress back. Then, as if catching himself, he fell back into his cool façade and cleared his throat. "Indeed. Well then… " He left the sentence unfinished and busied himself with unlacing the fingerless gloves Riho had given Team Gai.

Sai leaned down and, much to Sakura's horror, hoisted her up into his arms, as if she weren't capable of walking on her own two feet. "You're resting till Riho gets here. I'll close the clinic for you."

"Let me down!" Sakura protested as she tried to wriggle free from Sai's grip. Her world once again started to spin, making her stomach lurch. She covered her mouth with a hand.

Tenten moved as if to help Sai, but Sakura saw Neji grip the weapons mistress' shoulder firmly, then reprimanded her with one word: "Lunch?"

Tenten gave Neji a hesitant look before nodding then turned back to Sakura and Sai. "Are you sure you're all right?"

It took a while before Sai was able to speak. "Wait. There is one thing."

"Yeah?" Neji asked.

Sakura watched as Sai looked down at her, those dark eyes moved around her face intently. "The Noa girl. She's a healer, too. Can you call her here for Sakura?"

The request almost made Sakura groan in despair. Not the Noa girl again. She dropped the hand from her mouth. Did this mean Sai was going to leave again? He never insisted on having Noa come over if he wasn't about to leave her side for more than an hour…

Tenten nodded jerkily. "I'll call her then."

"No. You prepare lunch. I'll get her," Neji volunteered again, as he always would when Tenten made to do something that concerned her leaving Sakura and Sai together. The Hyuuga moved towards the door, pausing to pick up a few cassava roots that have fallen from the pile, then disappeared after another lingering look at his teammate. Tenten, after once again hesitating in her place, followed soon after.

Now that they were left alone, Sai, looking quite satisfied with how things were going, nodded at Sakura and said, "Would you like to lie down for a moment?"

Sakura, feeling even more embarrassed as Sai's arms tightened around her, shook her head and shifted her hips where Sai's hand was uncomfortably pressed against. "I said I'm fine. I'm the healer here. You should be listening to me."

"And I'm the one holding you up, and since you can't even get away from me means you aren't fine." Sai's hand shifted the hand he had on her hip to the back of her knees and she gasped when she slid lower against Sai's body. Her arms flew around his neck as a reflex reaction, which she immediately withdrew. She settled instead with clutching at the robes wrapped loosely around his shoulders.

Chances were she was probably over-worked. God forbid she had acquired some unknown desert disease. No, that would be too insulting for a healer. Perhaps it would be better if she lied down a bit. She found herself leaning her now throbbing head on Sai's chest, and said, "I'd like to lie down."

"Good," Sai said, sounding strangely satisfied and he started up the stairs to their bedroom. Sakura avoided looking up at his face. She raised her head up when she heard someone squawk from behind them. Sai turned around to see what had made the noise and Sakura saw Lee standing at the foot of the stairs, looking absolutely scandalized.

"What are you doing with Sakura in your arms?" Lee demanded, pointing an accusing finger at the Root agent.

Sakura buried her head in one hand and groaned. This was not turning into a very nice day. She let out a scream when she felt the world move under her. Lee was now trying to snatch her away from Sai.

"You already put out the laundry. It's my turn to put her to bed," Sai reasoned as he held Sakura away from the Taijutsu master.

Feeling suddenly annoyed that Sai had just categorized her along the line of dirty linens, she grabbed at the banister of the stairs and held on tight. "Put me down, now!"

Lee let out a victorious yell and again pointed a finger at Sai. "Hah! See? She wants you to put her down! Now, unhand her and I'll – "

"Oh, give me a break!" Sakura screamed, finally managing to wriggle out of Sai's grasp and she dropped on her own two feet on the stairs, staggering slightly. Sai moved as if to support her, and Lee jumped as if to do the same thing. She held her hands in front of her to ward them both away. They both froze in their tracks. "That's enough! I am more than capable to put myself in bed, without either of you, thank you very much."

Lee looked like he was about to cry as he tried to hold in a protest that was obviously bubbling in his chest. Those round eyes of his were shifting from Sai to Sakura and back again before he straightened, biting his lower lip. "But… !"

Sakura felt her left eye twitch, and she had a feeling it didn't have anything to do with her headache. She leaned weakly on the banister, nausea taking over her like a wave. "Just let me pass." She felt her eyes grow heavy. She closed them and covered her face with the back of her hand.

And when she opened them, Sai was looking down at her as she lay in her cot, Lee nowhere to be found. His eyes were barely visible beneath his bangs and the shadow of that floppy hat of his.

Sakura tried to sit up, but it felt as if her body didn't want to do anything she wanted it to do. She learned that it was because Sai was holding her down by the shoulders.

"Don't try to get up," Sai said, and let go of her shoulders when he was sure she wasn't going anywhere.

"What happened to me?" Sakura asked groggily,

Sai sat down on the side of the cot, making the mattress sag under his weight. He was not looking at her any more. "You just fainted. You were explaining to us that you were fine, and then you tried to climb the stairs, then you lost consciousness. You conveniently fell on top of me. Lee was livid and he ran away in protest, saying he was going to run a thousand laps around the colony to clear his mind of thoughts of you and me and the fact that we sleep together." Sai said it all with a straight face and then turned to face her. "A thousand laps will take him until night fall, so take advantage of the peace and quiet and rest. Noa would be here soon."

Sakura did not know what was worse; the fact that Lee thought she and Sai were _'sleeping together'_, or the fact that Noa was coming over again to torment her. She rolled on her side, turning away from Sai. She felt her head throb, right behind her eyes, and she buried her face against her pillow. "I don't need her. All I need is a bit of shut-eye and I'll be fine before Riho and her baby get here."

"It's always better to get a second opinion from a fellow healer. That girl may be a handful, but she seems to know what she's doing."

It was not as if Sakura didn't know this. The way Noa had assisted her during baby Valu's birth was nothing short of above average, and with a little bit more of practice and better guidance, the girl was bound to grow into a healer like her grandmother. Still, Sakura groaned. "I don't like her. She doesn't like me. It's a mutual feeling," she complained.

Sai, in a rare show of empathy, didn't say anything but just sat there beside her. Sakura could hear him breathing deeply in their silence, and once in a while she would feel him shift slightly, making the mattress move. Miraculously, the lack of conversation between them relaxed Sakura. It was hard to be silent around him. They would either be talking or fighting, but never really doing 'nothing'. Sakura sighed and rolled on her back, turning her head towards Sai. The Root agent had his forearms resting on his knees, chin thoughtfully placed on one knuckle. She could see his profile well, those glossy eyes almost buried behind the mess of hair, looking straight ahead. From that angle it was the first time Sakura realized he had a sharp nose, still slightly peeling from being exposed under the sun for too long. Along his jaw she could see a dark bruising spot where she was sure she had slammed her forehead with when Tenten caught them by surprise earlier.

Sakura reached out and touched his forearm gingerly. Sai looked down at her questioningly.

"You…" Sakura started. "Look stupid with that hat on."

Sai blinked, and after a moment reached up and pulled said hat off. "But I like this hat."

Sakura couldn't help but smile. "You look stupid with it on."

Sai stared down at the hat blankly, then placed it on his left knee. "Okay."

"Okay, what?"

"I won't wear it anymore."

Sakura rolled her eyes, then stopped when the action made everything else around her roll along with it. "I didn't say you shouldn't wear it. I only said you look stupid with it on."

Sai's eyes shifted to the hat, then flashed back to Sakura. "What good of a fiancé am I to you if you don't find me attractive?" he asked.

The throbbing in Sakura's head stopped for a moment before she felt a gnawing sensation in her chest that sent blood flowing to her face. She dropped the hand touching his forearm. Sai had always taken this charade to levels Sakura couldn't even understand. She had wondered more than once if this was what it was like to lose all emotion. It didn't seem to bother the Root agent that he was thrown into an indefinite mission with an indefinite timeframe and an indefinite direction. That, and he had to pose as her future-husband along with it. Of course, deception came with the job description, and a Root agent's purpose in life was to complete a mission as efficient as possible… but this was starting to get really ridiculous. Sakura had known Sai's lack of feelings, but she didn't know he was capable of going this far.

When Sai saw Sakura wasn't saying anything, he asked, "Isn't that what soon-to-be married couples do? I read in a book that it's a lover's job to look attractive for their partner to – "

"We aren't lovers," Sakura interrupted, feeling even more and more embarrassed with Sai's explanation.

Sai stared at her from under those bangs before looking away, saying nothing. Sakura didn't know how to take the lack of reaction from his face, as always giving nothing away, but Sakura didn't know what made her feel bad for saying what she just said. She felt herself reaching out to touch his face.

Sai jerked his head away. "What are you doing?" he asked.

Sakura let her hand drop to the mattress, feeling stupid. "I thought I should heal your bruise."

Sai touched his jaw and winced, as if having just remembered he had been creamed by Sakura's forehead earlier. "There's no need to waste chakra on something like this. It doesn't even hurt."

"It looks painful to me."

"That's because it had a collision with your forehea – ow!"

Sakura had grabbed a handful of skin on his forearm and squeezed. _Hard_. And here she had actually thought she'd grown out of that state when they had stopped making fun of her forehead. "Don't even say it," she threatened.

Sai grabbed her wrist and shook her grip from his arm. "All right. Let go."

Sakura did, and she tucked her hand under her pillow, still feeling his fingers on her wrist. It was then did she realize she had lived in Gifu for too long; every time he would touch her anywhere remotely near her hands, she would consciously feel embarrassed, flushed and outwardly flustered. She blamed it on Sai, for doing such a convincing job as her fiancé…

She shook herself and rolled onto her stomach, burying her face into her pillow and groaning in it. Maybe she should just do as she was told and sleep until Riho gets there. Have a dose of feverfew after lunch. Hopefully Tenten really was capable of making a decent meal in the kitchen.

When she felt Sai's hand on top of her hair, she moved to unearth her face from her pillow to look at him. Much to her surprise, he was not looking back. Instead he was looking down onto the floor with nothing going on in his eyes as always. She didn't shrug him away. His palm was warm against her scalp, and his fingers twitched gently, feeling through her hair.

She didn't try to shoo him away, which was surprising all in itself. She closed her eyes and tried to sleep.

* * *

In contrast to Konoha, which was in majority made out of wood, clay and rock, the architecture of the Hidden Rain was made of metal pipes, steel skyscrapers and a maze of complicated power lines and ducts. And as expected, the climate of the place never agreed well with Hyuuga Hinata. It rained half the day every day and was humid throughout the mornings and afternoons, growing colder when night time came. Of course, by January it had gotten a bit cooler, much to Kiba and Akamaru's pleasure. Kiba had done nothing but complain about how his hair kept on sticking on his forehead. Shino never really said anything much about it, but Hinata had seen him once or twice unzipping his jacket only to zip it back again when she asked if he was feeling hot. The Aburame never complained, of course, and Hinata was not the one to press the topic when she knew her teammate was already shying away from a conversation.

If anyone ever decided to have a conversation, that is.

Ever since Team Kurenai had arrived in the Hidden Rain and Naruto had found them with Konan's help, they seldom talked. Tsunade, they had seen and talked to about twice within the month. The Fifth, although seeming slightly off, looked well enough. Hinata wasn't able to see the woman since the destruction of the Leaf, but from the talk within the Village before they had left, Tsunade had been the worse for wear. Now the only evidence that Tsunade had weakened was the absence of the trademark rhombus on her forehead, and the dull light in her eyes every time she'd stare off into nothingness.

And then there was Naruto. The mere thought of him made Hinata blush. The blonde kept mostly to himself in the huge balcony overlooking the Hidden Rain, and the only thing he took with him as company was a conspicuous silver urn. Naruto never said anything about it, and Hinata never had the courage to ask. Actually, that would be an understatement. Ever since she had poured her heart out to Naruto in the battlefield, she didn't known how to approach him anymore. Which was once again another understatement because, well, because this was Naruto. And being within a two-foot radius of the boy made her light-headed as it was.

And right now, Hinata stood shuffling her feet inside the Akatsuki Tower, two cups of warm tea in her clammy hands, looking out at the balcony where Naruto sat cross-legged, that silver urn sitting beside him as usual. Hinata bit her lower lip nervously. She had looked at his back from afar for the last month, and maybe it was just her imagination, but his shoulders seemed to have gotten broader as the days passed. This new habit he's developed after Pain's invasion – sitting stone-still – had given Hinata the perfect opportunity to ogle him unnoticed. When he was younger, he was always running everywhere and anywhere that she's had a hard time following him around. Now that Naruto seemed to like sitting in one place for hours and hours on end each and every day, Hinata could stare to her heart's content, but would end up torn between wanting to talk to him, and just watching his back from a distance.

"Are you going to give him that tea sometime today? Or are you just gonna stand there until tomorrow? Just like what you did yesterday."

Hinata jumped, spilling a bit of the tea onto her hand. Kiba shook his head ruefully at her before setting the huge bundle of clothes in his arms on the wicker basket right next to the Hyuuga.

"You didn't come back, so I took the laundry down. No use hanging it out to dry outside. I swear, another month here, and I'll grow molds in my forehead," Kiba grumbled, straightening and stretching his arms over his head.

"I'm sorry, Kiba. You can leave the folding to me," Hinata offered, her eyes momentarily lingering on the basket before returning to stare at Naruto again.

Kiba wrinkled his nose before sitting on the cold floor and pulling the basket towards him. "_Before_ or _after_ you give that cup to Naruto?" He pulled a black shirt from the pile and began roughly handling it. Hinata recognized the shirt to be Naruto's.

Hinata hurriedly placed the cups of tea onto the floor, sat across Kiba, wiped her wet hands on her pants and snatched the shirt and the basket from her teammate. If she let the boy have his way with the laundry, they would be walking around in wrinkled and moist clothing for the whole week. And the last thing she wanted was to have Naruto walking around in wrinkled clothing. "I'll… I'll do it right now. Th-the tea's already cold, so… "

Kiba gave her a suspicious look before settling back and stretching onto his side. "Yeah, today's the third and a half week you've let tea cool without handing it to Naruto. I was actually hoping you'd finally be able to – "

"Kiba!" Hinata squeaked, feeling all the blood pool at her cheeks. The second to the last thing she wanted was to have Naruto realize that they were talking about him. And as if to check if he hadn't heard them bickering, she looked over her shoulder and sighed in relief when she found Naruto still sitting on the balcony like a statue. He didn't even move a muscle.

Kiba let a growl bubble in his chest and he shot up sitting, irritated. "Yeah, well there are a lot of other things we have to worry about aside from your love-life. You _have _talked to Tsunade-sama again, right?"

Hinata's shoulders sagged as she turned back to her teammate. Tsunade-sama had insisted on seeing only women for the past month they've been there, and since the only women available within the area were Hinata and Konan, the Hyuuga ended up with the assignment of checking up on the Fifth. Hinata had been more than keen to ask for advice, suggestion and any form of direction from the woman, but she had received none. Tsunade-sama just wouldn't talk to her about anything that concerned Konoha. "I've tried. But I didn't have the heart to force answers from her."

Kiba, who Hinata thought would burst into another fit of complaints, instead just nodded his head in understanding. "Thought as much. I guess it wouldn't be that easy to recover after having saved a whole village." He rubbed his hands on his face, frustrated. "But how long do we have to wait before we receive orders?"

Hinata gave him an understanding look as she began folding the clothes neatly and separating it into tiny piles. They've been running around like headless chickens ever since they left the Leaf, and nothing could have been worse for a ninja than to move without direction. Then again, when Neji had announced they were going against Danzo's orders, she had half-expected this to happen. She just hoped Team Gai was doing better than they were.

Hinata looked up when Shino walked into the room silently, those shaded eyes gleaming in the darkness.

"We have no choice but to ask Naruto for guidance," the Aburame said as he hovered over to them without any plans to sit. He looked over at the blonde out by the balcony. "It's the only other alternative we have."

"Yeah, well easier said than done. The guy spends more time pretending to be a rock than talk to us. And what the heck is that urn for anyway?" Kiba muttered.

Hinata had asked herself the same question many times before, and was dying to know the answer. Now if only she would be able to approach the Uzumaki without losing consciousness…

"Maybe," Shino said. "We should talk to him even if he doesn't want to talk."

Hinata swallowed, a bit afraid. It was not as if Naruto had a temper. She of all people knew that Naruto wouldn't get mad if they ever interrupt… whatever he was doing at the moment, but… She raised her eyes to the _jinchuuriki_, feeling the veins in the corner of her eyes contract as she activated her _Byakugan_. Though a part of her felt like this was invading Naruto's privacy, another part of her was worrying about the boy's state. She could not have guessed what she saw.

The flow of chakra within Naruto's body was… _strange_. No, it wasn't _'bad-strange'_. Just… _'strange-strange'. _Hinata had, many, many times before, gained the courage to spy on Naruto in the past, and so she wasn't surprised when she saw the bottomless supply of chakra that vessel of a body could hold. The only thing different now from the times she had spied on him was the… indescribable amount of… _something_ Naruto's body was absorbing from almost everything around him. She had heard that Naruto had been training as a Sage before his battle with Pain. Could it be it had something to do with his new technique?

Hinata blinked when the silver urn sitting beside the boy caught her attention. Are those… _ashes?_

"Hinata? Hinata! Are you listening?"

Hinata deactivated her Byakugan and shook herself when she heard Kiba call out to her. She had in her hands, much to her horror, one of Naruto's boxer briefs. The one with the tiny frog prints, of all things. She looked down at it, scandalized. The small frogs stared back at her with goofy, fading smiles. She dropped the piece of clothing back into the wicker basket as if it were a snake. Her eyes widened and she turned to Kiba and Shino, ready to defend herself if they decided to bombard her with any perverted questions. Her teammates were watching her suspiciously, but they didn't seem concerned that she had been clutching Naruto's underwear for longer than necessary.

"What?" Hinata asked defensively.

Kiba gave Shino a look and the insect-user merely shrugged. Kiba turned back to Hinata. "We were thinking of talking to Naruto."

Hinata nodded absent-mindedly. "Of course. Y-yes. All right."

"Uh…" Kiba muttered. "We were thinking it would be best if _you _talked to him. Like, _now_."

Hinata automatically had her pointy fingers busy with pressing its tips against each other. She laughed nervously. "M-m-me? But I'm n-not… I don't… I-I wouldn't know what to say!"

Shino and Kiba shared another look. This time, it was Shino's turn to give Hinata the lecture her teammates always gave her when she was being indecisive. Shino crouched down beside Hinata and pushed the basket of laundry away from her. The Aburame knew her too well. If Hinata didn't want to listen, she would try to act busy. Without the laundry, she had no excuse.

"Hinata," Shino started. "You stood up to an enemy powerful enough to destroy a village. And that was because of Naruto. You have been very reckless."

Hinata lowered her head. After the attack, when she had regained consciousness and everything was in chaos, Kiba and Shino didn't say a word about her decision to risk her life for Naruto, even when she knew there wasn't a hair of a chance she would win against Pain. She supposed it wasn't too late for a scolding…

"But," Shino continued. "You were very brave. We are proud of you."

Hinata slowly raised her head and saw Kiba looking awfully embarrassed, and Shino looking as stoic as ever.

"You know there was something left undone with that battle, Hinata," Shino pressed, and Hinata realized he wasn't talking about her fight with Pain.

"A lot of things must be going on inside Naruto's head right now," Shino said. "Jiraiya-sama's murder, the destruction of the Leaf. And before all of that, the failed mission to retrieve Sasuke."

Hinata half-turned her head away. She knew all these things about Naruto. She, after all, had been the one to notice everything about him, even before he had become the Village's hero. She, after all, had been one of the very few who noticed beyond his flaws when they were still in the academy.

Kiba sighed. "What Shino's trying to say, is that we think you're the _only one _who can talk to him. So – "

"I can't!" Hinata suddenly exclaimed, completely aghast. Then realizing her voice was too loud she clamped a hand over her mouth. She leaned forward and asked in a whisper, _"Why me?"_

Shino stood up slowly, Kiba following suit. "Because we know that you know him better than anybody here, and because of that we're willing to bet you would understand him more than we could."

And that was when Hinata started to panic. "But! But! But…!"

"If you don't finish both your battles here, then how can we move on to the next one?" Shino asked.

That was easier for him to say. He wasn't the one who's been in love with the boy since pre-puberty. She shook her head. "I can't do it. I'm not emotionally prepared yet!" she said desperately.

Kiba looked at her dryly as he reached down and grabbed her left arm. "Yeah, right. You're a ninja. Ninja are _always _emotionally prepared."

"I'll faint! I'll get woozy and lose consciousness and m-make a complete f-f-_fool _of myself in front of him! "

"Like you always do, but that did not stop him from losing control over the Kyuubi when he thought you have died in Pain's hand," Shino pointed out sullenly, taking her other arm, and together he and Kiba pulled her up into a standing position.

Hinata helplessly covered her face with her hands, willing herself not to cry out loud. The way Shino had said that Naruto had lost control because of her made her feel even guiltier. And she can't believe her teammates were doing this to her!

"Now, off you go!" said Kiba enthusiastically as they marched Hinata towards the balcony.

Hinata could feel the tips of her sandals scarping the cold, steel floor of the tower. She longingly looked over her shoulder at the forgotten wicker basket. "The laundry…" she moaned as a final attempt for an excuse.

"Yeah, yeah. You can hug Naruto's boxers all you want after you talk to him," Kiba muttered.

Surprised that she hadn't passed out from the mere accusation, Hinata was about to tell him she hadn't been hugging Naruto's boxers. That was until she felt herself stop moving for a second. The next second she was soaring. She expected the next second to crash into the balcony, but the crash didn't come.

She opened her eyes. She didn't even know she had closed them. She found herself staring deep into orange, amphibian-like eyes, lids also powdered with a feint orange shadow. Those eyes blinked. She blinked back then her eyes traveled down to the lower part of the face that came with those inhuman-like eyes. Tan cheeks. Curious, whisker-like markings on those cheeks. Hinata's eyes traveled lower.

And then she felt her breath catch in her throat.

Because of all the places she could land on, it had to be on Uzumaki Naruto's lap.

"Uh," was the only word that she could cough out when Naruto didn't say anything. She returned her gaze back to his eyes and was surprised to see they were back to the startling blue she always remembered.

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked, worried.

Hinata swallowed before hurriedly scuttling off of him. She sat on the floor about a foot away from him, her face growing so hot she wondered why she still hadn't passed out yet. "I… uh… I'm all right. Uhm… sorry for falling on you like that." She shot a look over her shoulder and didn't find it shocking to see Kiba and Shino gone. She also noticed that they took the laundry basket with them. She hoped they didn't attempt to fold the clothes by themselves…

"You look flushed," Naruto said, and he reached out to touch her face.

Hinata let out a small yelp, covered her cheeks with her hands, as if hiding them would convince Naruto they weren't really red at all. "I-I'm fine. It must be the humidity…"

"Oh," Naruto said, though he looked unconvinced. He once again turned to the view overlooking the Hidden Rain.

Hinata, hands still on her face, followed his gaze. The tall skyscrapers peeking over the smaller square buildings of the village reflected whatever amount of sunlight the storm clouds above them let through, and in a melancholic sort of way, Hinata thought the dark and dreary village could actually pass as charming.

If only the sky would stop crying even for just one single day…

"Y-you don't mind if I sit here for a while?" Hinata asked, deciding that she had to start somewhere. She had never in her life tried to approach Naruto before. It was always Naruto who would sneak up on her when she was hiding from him or spying on him. And it had always been Naruto who had openly cheered her on when she felt like giving up.

Come to think of it, it was always Naruto who made the move.

_Always Naruto…_

It looked as if the blonde, too, looked shocked at the request. Hinata usually couldn't articulate well when around him. He nodded. "Sure. It must be hot in there."

"Yes. Akamaru can't stand it in there. He's been out all day in the rain."

Naruto let out a hollow laugh. "I can imagine how this humidity is killing him. Kiba wasn't any different. I heard him complaining about it the whole day yesterday."

Hinata smiled meekly and she finally managed to lower her hands to her lap. "You're always out here, all by yourself, ever since we came here, Naruto. And we couldn't find a way to start talking to you. Are you all right?"

The jinchuuriki grinned toothily, rubbing his thumb against the side of his nose. For a moment, Hinata could see the Naruto she was familiar with. "I'm always all right."

Hinata doubted it, but of course this was Naruto. He was the boy who had no one, had nothing, but who had overcome everything life threw at him. And wasn't that one of the traits the boy had that made her love him so much?

She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Once upon a time, after Hinata would calm down after passing out, she would have been contented with sitting a few feet away from this boy, or looking at his back while they walked together in a mission, or making rice balls in the shape of his face. Once upon a time, she would have blushed and smiled meekly and twiddled her thumbs while she watched Naruto do whatever he thought fit to catch anyone's attention, and she would secretly cheer him on, even when anyone in her right mind would have thought he was making a complete fool of himself.

But right now, she was sitting beside a boy who was completely different from the one she had always known. Here was a boy who had overcome every single lemon life had thrown at him, who had saved the village that used to hate him simply for being born. Here was a boy who sat by himself in the balcony of a village that wasn't his, carrying a silver urn that _must _have some meaning. And here was a boy who was carrying a burden on his broad shoulders, because the village that used to hate him was now under a regime of a man that contrasted with everything they had believed in, and he could be the only one who was capable of getting it back…

But most importantly, here was a boy who was just that – _a boy_.

Gathering the courage from the depths of her heart, she inched closer – just an inch, of course! – to Naruto before burying her face in her knees. Perhaps talking wasn't a good idea right now.

She had, after all – during the battle with Pain – said everything she needed to say…

* * *

Noa arrived noisily before Neji did. Apparently the girl had dashed from her house the moment Neji mentioned that Sakura wasn't feeling well. By the time the girl made her way to second floor of the Healer's house, Sakura had already fallen asleep with Sai sitting on the cot beside her, his hand gently stroking her hair.

Noa scowled as she stomped her way towards the two. "Well?" she snapped as she stood in front of Sai, hands planted on her hips.

Sai looked up at her warily. She reminded him of Sakura when she was looking down at a patient. "Well, what?"

Noa gestured wildly at him. "Aren't you leaving? Go away."

Sai blinked owlishly at her, then said, "I'd rather stay."

Noa's scowl deepened. "Then why the hell did you call me all the way here if you're not leaving? You only call me when you need to leave Sakura alone while you're away, right?" Her lips twisted awkwardly at saying Sakura's name.

Of course, this had been the pattern. And of course, at first he wanted to call Noa because it was that time of the day to leave the colony for a few hours. But he hadn't expected Sakura to not feel well enough to defend herself if anything went wrong. The hand caressing Sakura's hand stopped, but it did not leave her head.

When Sai didn't say anything, Noa leaned her face closer to Sai and stared deep into his eyes. Sai didn't even move a muscle. He was used to having Noa peer down at him like some insect under a microscope. "You're _worried_… aren't you?"

Sai blinked again. Worried? That was impossible. Sai never worried. "If I leave, will everything be all right?"

Noa narrowed her eyes at him, those fine eyebrows of hers turning down into a small 'v'. "You _are_ worried. I can tell."

Unconsciously Sai's hand moved from Sakura's head to his knee and he removed the hat he had placed there. He discarded it onto the floor. "I'll be back in two hours. Can you stay with her until then?"

Noa straightened up and crossed her arms over her chest. "It's not like I have anything better to do."

"I think she isn't feeling too well. Can you look into that too?"

Noa wrinkled her nose. Sai noticed that the girl could do a lot of things with her nose. "It's just fatigue. I'll make her a broth of feverfew and let her drink it when she wakes up, though I doubt she would need it. A little rest should do."

Sai breathed a sigh of relief before he could catch himself. Noa was watching him again. He pushed himself up from the cot and was surprised when something stopped him. He looked over his shoulder to see Sakura's one hand clutching at his robes while she slept. Sai sat back down and gently peeled her fingers from his clothes.

"They're back, aren't they?" Noa suddenly asked him.

Sai succeeded in removing Sakura's hand and he slowly placed it on her pillow. Sakura sighed contentedly. So, Noa knew. He had suspected the girl might have caught onto the reason why he would leave the colony for a few hours at a time everyday for the past days.

Sai had realized it five days ago. They were not hard to notice, really, as they moved in a group too large for a ninja not to take in. Sai hadn't had a visual of the suspicious group yet, but he had sent several ink snakes at night while no one was awake to spy within the parameter of the colony. There were about a dozen of them taking camp several kilometers away from Gifu opposite the desert basin, men that didn't look anything more than traveling merchants. What made Sai suspicious of them was that they never wandered far from the colony. At first he had thought that perhaps they were there for water. But it had been five days already, and none seemed to have any plans of approaching them.

Another thing that worried Sai was that they started to grow in numbers on the third day. Their movements didn't seem hostile, and through the untrained eye one would think it was just a passing caravan that met up with others of its kind.

But Sai knew better.

And apparently, so did Noa.

"They're waiting," Noa said darkly. She did not look scared, but she didn't look too confident either. If anything, she seemed… worried.

Sai was on his feet and he withdrew the fingerless gloves he had in his robe pockets. He started slipping them on. "We don't know what they want yet, and I don't think it would be wise to jump into conclusions. Is this the first time they've stalked the colony?"

Noa, when asked this, started to look really uncomfortable. Her shoulders sagged and she tried to appear as small as possible, and she didn't say anything as she picked at her skirts.

Sai felt at his robes for the hidden stack of kunai at his hip and the handy pouch of ink and brushes strapped to his shoulder. "Riho's coming over with baby Valu at three. Can you wake Sakura up before she arrives?"

The scowl was back on the girl's face. "I am not your servant!"

"It wasn't an order," Sai told her. "I was asking you nicely. As I always do."

Noa snapped her mouth shut and muttered some words that sounded like, "Yeah, yeah. Whatever… "

Sai nodded, satisfied with her answer, and he bent down to look at Sakura's sleeping form. He patted her head one final time before starting for the door. "I'm sure it's nothing, but we might as well make sure. I'll be back soon." And he left through the second floor exit down to the kitchens, saying a few words to Tenten who was having a losing battle with the clay stove, then heading off to the well to fill his water bottles. He double-checked his weapons before stuffing the water bottles behind his belt under his robes.

Sai left the colony as he always did for the past five days feeling nothing special in particular, except this time he was relieved to know that Sakura would be all right with just a bit of rest.

Little did he know that this was a start of something that was going to fill Gifu – and Sakura herself – with a great deal of sorrow very, very soon.

* * *

**_TBC_**


	12. The Solstice

**Chapter Twelve**

**The Solstice**

* * *

Sai woke up that cold, cold morning of the Solstice feeling… _different_. It was actually very hard to explain. It felt like someone was jabbing at a certain part of his chest with a needle so, so very tiny that it couldn't possibly be causing him pain, but it was making him very, _very_ uncomfortable.

The feeling had actually started three or four nights after baby Valu's birth day, right before he fell asleep. He had been watching Sakura comb her hair while humming to herself. This was, of course, nothing new to Sai; Sakura always had that habit of cleaning herself before going to bed. She would go to the roof where they leave open tubs of water to warm under the sun and bathe before retiring, change into her loose sleeping robes, and spend an unnecessarily long time brushing her hair, which had grown roughly over the months just enough to tickle her shoulders. Sai had not even realized until then that she had such fine hair. He blamed it on the colorful scarves she always wore over her head to avoid attention, but that was because he did not have any other explanation as to why he was starting to pay attention to trivial things concerning her. They have been together for almost a quarter of a year, yet why did it seem like he was always seeing her for the first time lately?

Sai was an artist, and so detail was something he had always kept an eye out for. That was why he wondered how he had missed the fact that Sakura's hair was not simply just bubblegum pink, but there were strands that were a few shades darker, and some were so light they could have been white. He could not explain either, the reason why he would always catch himself looking at her neck whenever she swiped her hair over her right shoulder to brush it. He had observed her neck was slender, and there was a conspicuous-looking scar, barely noticeable unless you looked really hard right below her left ear.

Sakura had caught him staring at her more than once but she did not say anything. Her body language, however, would change dramatically, and she would continue to brush her hair hurriedly before lying down on her side of the cot, her back to him.

Ah, she really amused him being that way. Everything she did seem so interesting in his eyes lately; the way she liked to gesture with her hands whenever she talked, or the way she pursed her lips when she was reading something difficult.

Or the way she would blush whenever he tried to do something nice _to_ and _for_ her…

He never really understood that part. Weren't women supposed to be grateful to have men do something nice to them? Or did that once again vary from female to female? It seemed that whatever Sai did, Sakura always looked disappointed in him.

Sai's eyes popped open when he heard Sakura stir beside him. He turned his head and found her blinking sleepily at him from behind the blinds separating her cot from his.

"What?" he asked dully.

"You were moaning in your sleep," Sakura said, voice still groggy from just having woken up. She reached aimlessly for the rope to raise the blinds. Her reach was a few inches too short and she used her other arm to shift on her cot. She began to pull at the rope, and the blinds slowly ascended. Sai saw a sliver of her bare shoulder from under her sleeping robes in the action, and his heart made an annoying, unfamiliar jump. He hadn't really thought shoulders to be the sexiest part of the human anatomy, but there was something so appealing having to see something _accidentally_. It was different having Sakura voluntarily strip down to her tank top and shorts in front of him after a day in the clinic.

He didn't realize he was staring until Sakura nervously hitched her robes over her shoulder to cover that piece of skin he was ogling. Sai turned away. "Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

"Ah, no. I was having a hard time sleeping to begin with," she mumbled as she fell back down on her pillow, one of her eyes peeking from behind the curtain of light hair that had fallen over her forehead. Waking up in the cold was something Sakura didn't do well. She coughed into her pillow and rubbed her cheek roughly. "What time is it?"

Sai looked over his shoulder at the closed window behind him. Judging from the absence of the usual sunlight streaming between the shutters, he supposed it was not even six in the morning. "It's still early. You should go back to sleep."

"Hm," Sakura murmured and that one exposed eye closed slightly. "Is it just me or is it extraordinarily cold today?"

"It's the Solstice," Sai said, though he wasn't sure if that had anything to do with the cold. Admittedly, it _was_ a bit colder as compared to other days since December came in. He returned his gaze back to Sakura. "Are you all right?"

Sakura let out a snorting sound and she buried herself deeper into her blankets. "Yeah. Just… yeah, give me five more minutes."

Sai rolled onto his side, propping his head on his hand and looking down at Sakura curiously. The only thing visible was the crown of her head poking from under her sheets. Sai felt an unexplainable urge to jump out of his cot and get as far away from her as possible (because a sleepy Sakura was just as bad as an angry Sakura), but he just couldn't bring his body to move. Once again, Sakura curled up like this… _amused_ him. It was the first time they had shared the cot with the blinds up. All he needed to do was roll over a few more inches and he could practically take her into his arms and –

He shook himself. He knew that his mission was to protect this woman at all costs, and though Tsunade had been quite stingy with specifics, he had agreed to accept this job. Sakura was making it hard for him to do so, but he could not help but find moments within this mission quite… _fun_.

And finding a mission fun can't possibly be good.

He wanted to blame it all on Sakura for being just so… was the right word _cute?_ There had been moments in the past days when he had purposefully tried to make her blush. All of his attempts had been successful. In fact it had been very easy to accomplish; a brush on the cheek here, a touch on the arm there. Of course, he had received a punch or two in the process, though he couldn't help but feel like she had held back, because her punches didn't hurt as much as he knew they should. She would flee from him after attacking him, and he would be left feeling strangely satisfied.

"You're cold," Sai pointed out as he saw Sakura shiver from under her blankets. He moved towards her.

Sakura's face popped out from under the sheets. Her eyes were wide open, and her cheeks were tinted faintly of pink. "_Don__'__t_even think about it," she hissed in warning.

Sai froze in mid-action, one arm hovering over Sakura's form before he slowly lowered it back on the cot. "I just thought – " Sakura's pointed stare silenced him immediately.

"Don't _think_. Don't _talk_. Don't do _anything_," Sakura commanded, and she hesitated approximately three seconds before she turned her back to him, pulling the blankets over her head again.

Sai realized it was one of those moments when Sakura was being just plain unsociable. He had dubbed these moments as _'__Sakura __moments__'_, where she would try everything in her power to be unreasonable. He knew that it was better to leave her alone for a few minutes until the moment passed, but since he had never once tried to engage her in a conversation during her_ '__Sakura __moment__'_, he decided to find out what would happen if he tried to push his luck.

"Why are you angry?" Sai asked, sincerely curious why she was in such a bad mood today.

Sakura was instantly ashamed of herself. Sai could tell, because her shoulders slackened and after a few seconds rolled over to face him. She was frowning. There was that small, vertical crease between her eyebrows that only appeared when she was deep in thought. She was not blushing, which was a shame.

"I'm not angry. Not really," she said quietly, rubbing the exposed tip of her nose before coughing in her hand.

Sai searched her face a moment longer than necessary before lying on his back, focusing his eyes on the ceiling. There were many times during their stay in Gifu did he think Sakura to be a very difficult girl, but this was probably the very first time it ever bothered him. _Nothing _usually bothered him. He sighed. "Then why do you seem like you _are_ this early in the morning, right before I even start to annoy you, like you say I always do?"

And she was silent. Sai didn't bother to look at her if she was thinking of an answer to his question, assuming she was just going to brush him off because she always did that as of late.

So he was surprised when he felt cool fingers press against the side of his face. He didn't move, or even say anything, deep down thinking that if he did she would pull away.

"I'm uncomfortable when you act like this," she said.

"When I act like what?"

The fingers resting on Sai's cheek twitched but they didn't leave. "Like as if you're making fun of me."

That was what made Sai turn his head to look at her. The fingers touching his cheek ended up brushing his lips, and his heart skipped another beat for an unknown reason. "I'm… not making fun of you."

Sakura was looking at her own fingers, now lingering on the corner of his mouth. She seemed quite fascinated by this because she started to brush her thumb over his lower lip experimentally. Then, as if realizing what she was doing, pulled away and tucked her hand under her pillow. "Well, it makes me feel like you are. You go around being nice when you don't have to, and just now you were about to hug me to embarrass me, like always."

Sai felt a muscle on his cheek that he'd barely used before twitch, and the corner of his mouth turned down slightly. "You looked cold. I thought maybe you needed – "

"Well, you thought _wrong_," Sakura interrupted, and then sneezed so violently that Sai actually felt a light spray of what could have been saliva on his face. He wiped at it unconsciously.

""I didn't – _don__'__t_ – intent to. Embarrass you, I mean," Sai lied. He was always a good liar. He was just a natural poker face. He wasn't about to admit to her that making her blush was a secret pleasure to him as of late.

"It doesn't matter if you didn't mean to. If that's how the other party perceives it, then that means everything."

Sai blinked at her owlishly, his eyes lingering down to the pillow where she had hid her hand and his mind drifting off to the sensation her fingers had cast onto his lips. "It does?"

Sakura nodded vigorously. "God, Sai. Ever since we came here, I keep on forgetting you're emotionally retarded." She wrinkled her nose. "Look, do you see anyone else around? There's no one here. There's no reason for you to play the ever-devoted husband-to-be when it's just the two of us."

Sai blinked again, in all honesty lost at Sakura's explanation as to why she didn't want to accept his kindness, when all the books that dealt with the female psychology he had read said so otherwise. "You were cold. I wanted to give you warmth because you're bad at cold mornings. That didn't have anything to do with our disguise. I thought it to be the kind thing to do."

This silenced Sakura, as if weighing his words in her mind. She opened her mouth to say something, but seemed to decide against it when she closed it again.

Sai took this chance to sit up, but Sakura's hand instantly shot out and grabbed his wrist. He looked down at her questioningly.

"You're wasting body heat," Sakura mumbled quietly as her grip tightened, and she tried her best to avoid his stare.

Sai considered prying her vise-grip away, but instead found himself lying back down on his cot. He was quite surprised, however, when Sakura edged closer to him, pressing her body against his. He didn't know what to do. For a moment, he lay there, paralyzed, afraid that if he moved she would pull away.

The thing that bothered him was her hands. Her left hand – the one that had grabbed his wrist – never released its grip, and it was starting to cut off the circulation of blood to his fingers. Her right hand buried under her pillow had somehow managed to slither under _his _pillow and it was now an annoying lump located under his head. It was pressing against his cheek.

"You're… warm," she said against his neck.

"You're cold," Sai said back, and it was the truth. Her fingers were cold against his wrist, and the tip of her nose that was pressing against his neck was like an ice cube.

Sai wriggled his wrist free from her grasp and slowly, cautiously – just carefully enough to give her a chance to pull away if she wanted – he slid his arm around her waist and planted his palm flat against the small of her back. He was mildly surprised when she didn't flinch from the contact, as she always did when he tried to touch her. Taking this as a positive sign, he pulled her closer and she buried her face between Sai's pillow and his neck. Sai discovered that although her nose was cold, her cheeks were very warm.

"I hate this place," Sakura suddenly said, her voice muffled against his skin. "It's always either too cold or too hot. I can't wait to go back home where the weather's all right all the time."

"Was it really that sunny? I never noticed," Sai said, shifting his head a bit to the right to avoid the lump her hand was making on his pillow.

Sakura nodded slowly. "Yeah. I almost forgot you weren't always out in the open until you joined Team Seven. It must have sucked being underground majority of your youth."

Sai's eyebrows twitched a bit. It was probably the only facial expression that came close to amusement for him. "Just because I wasn't in Academy with you or didn't grow up with you and your batch doesn't mean I haven't been around the village myself."

"I never saw you around," Sakura said lazily. She could have been talking in her sleep.

"A good ninja doesn't _have_to be seen. Working in the shadows, unnoticed, is how I was trained."

"You never did odd jobs when you were a _Genin_?"

"Define odd jobs."

"Working the garden. Fishing garbage out of the river. Chasing after runaway pets. That's to name a few."

Sai thought about it, trying hard to remember his _Genin_ days. There was one vivid memory a few months after becoming a _Genin_. He was given a solo mission to assassinate a rich merchant's wife who was having an affair with the village locksmith. The merchant had money to spend, and a good enough reason to spend it. The Leaf – _Danzo_ – had no reason to refuse. Sai didn't have a hard time with the mission. He had waited for the wife by the locksmith's shop. That night saw Sai having to slit the throat of the locksmith and the wife while they lay naked after love-making. Sai was ordered not to strike unless able to find proof of the affair.

Of course, it didn't matter, the very trivial detail about the locksmith and the merchant's wife being formerly engaged and the merchant threatening the woman that if she didn't marry him instead, he would throw the woman's sickly old father into jail for the debt he still owed him.

Sai had been nine years old at that time. He had felt not an iota of remorse then. He still didn't feel any of it now, but his arms tightened around Sakura's waist uneasily. "Yes. I did odd jobs back then, too."

Sakura laughed softly, her breath tickling the skin of his neck his robes exposed. "Those bring back a lot of memories. Naruto always messed it up for us. He was always getting into trouble."

Sai felt suddenly sick. He knew where this conversation was going. If he didn't change the subject, they would end up talking about Uchiha Sasuke. And conversations about Uchiha Sasuke never ended happily.

"Tomona said there would be fireworks tonight," Sai started, resting his chin on the top of her head. He marveled at the fact that Sakura didn't even try to push him away when she normally would have pummeled him to death in other circumstances involving any intimate contact whatsoever.

Sakura nodded, once again back to being lethargic once the conversation about Konoha ended. "Yeah. I didn't know they made fireworks this far south of the Wind Country."

"Tomona said they get fireworks delivered from the Sand before trade ends for the winter." And hadn't Sai frowned at the fact that Gifu and the Hidden Sand Village were actually that open for trade? Being open for trade meant being open to news. And news traveled too fast for comfort for Sai. The only thing he could do was hope that Gifu's new Healer was not a part of that news.

The arm Sai had around Sakura's waist slackened, and he suddenly felt very tired. This was probably the hardest mission he's had to date, and because this did not involve recon, assassination or espionage, he was utterly and completely lost. Those were the only things he was capable of doing good. For the love of him he was not trained to hold a woman when she was sleeping, nor was he skilled in understanding certain aspects that came close to intimacy. And that was what they were now, right? _Intimate?_

Sai closed his eyes and sighed. But he had to admit that out of all the missions he had taken so far, this was the mission he felt he could learn and grow as a person, and not as a Root agent. All of that could be because he was living with the girl he had wrapped in his arms right now.

Sai's eyes popped open when said girl's breathing evened out as she slipped into dreamland. This was another thing that had started worrying him ever since Sakura had begun studying the second scroll. It was as if she was always, always tired, especially in the morning. She would eventually gain momentum once the sun shone and melted the snow. Today, however, didn't look too promising. It was cold, even for Sai.

"Sai," Sakura suddenly spoke.

"Yes?"

"The patient's inventory… You'll look at it for me later, right?"

Sai nodded slowly. He had promised to help her with the quarterly inventory not a few days ago. "Of course," he said, and they fell into silence, until Sakura suddenly spoke again.

"Sai?"

Sai craned his neck to peer down at her questioningly. "What?"

"Let's watch the fireworks tonight. Okay?"

Sai blinked. It was the only reaction he could think of doing at the moment, because this was the first time Sakura had actually initiated an opportunity for them to be together. He wondered if it was an unconscious reaction for the kunoichi to spout random romantic words when she was weak and sleepy.

What surprised him more was the very, very distinct warm feeling that had started to spread from his chest to his neck to his arms, making his fingertips tingle pleasantly.

"I'd love that. Sure," he said. And he spent the next hour watching her sleep.

* * *

There was something terribly wrong with Gifu today. While it was normal for early mornings to greet them with a thin sheet of frozen precipitation before the sun rose, the snow had accumulated past knee-level that Tenten had to raise her skirts higher to keep it dry. Of course, since it never really snowed this much in Konoha, the Weapons mistress couldn't help but giggle at the coldness grazing her legs. She looked up at the dark clouds in the sky. They promised more snow. She wondered if Gifu's Solstice was always this cold, and thought that it wouldn't be so bad if Konoha had a few days like this, too.

"Tenten," she heard a voice call out to her and she looked over her shoulder to see Neji by the kitchens, who had just started a fire. "What are you doing out so early?"

Tenten squinted at her teammate. What with the whiteness of everything around them and the eerie darkness of early morning, she could hardly make out his eyes. "I should be asking you the same thing. What are _you_ doing up?" she inquired.

Neji squatted down on his haunches in front of one of their water pots and frowned. "I had wanted a drink, but all our water's frozen," he said.

Tenten's eyebrows rose up her forehead and she carefully tread through the garden, making sure to step into the holes in the snow where Neji's feet had already left deep footprints. "It's especially cold today. Sakura and Sai aren't awake yet?" Once she reached the kitchens, she stomped her feet to shake off the snow that had seeped under her toes.

Neji flipped open the top of the pot and peered in it. "They're still in bed, but they're awake."

Tenten stared at her teammate's back for a few seconds before understanding what he meant, and her eyes narrowed at him. "You weren't _spying_ on them with your eyes, were you? Because that's just plain creepy."

Neji met her gaze head on. In the light of the fire that crackled happily in the clay stove, the serious lines set on the corners of the Hyuuga's mouth said everything. "I always check on them when I can. _Always_."

Tenten was disgruntled. "Well, you should stop. You should leave them alone."

Neji shook his head and he slipped a kunai from a secret pocket of his sleeping robes. He started hacking at the ice inside the water pot. "We can't leave Sakura alone with Sai. We don't know if we can trust a Root agent who could be waiting for Sakura to lower her guard."

The annoyance left Tenten, immediately being replaced by a trace of amusement. _Lower __her __guard, __he __says? _Sakura had been practically rolling around the colony without a care in the world. Her guard, as far as Tenten was concerned, was already down. She may be denying it, but she had already surrendered her trust to Sai fully. Tenten decided not to say anything to Neji, and instead crossed the kitchens to retrieve one of the low hanging kettles in the pantry. She placed it on the ground next to her teammate.

"Thank you," Neji said quietly and he deposited several shards of ice into the kettle.

Tenten wordlessly hung the kettle on the hook over the fire and wrapped her arms around herself.

Neji, after replacing the top cover of the pot back, straightened and mimicked her. The two of them stared into the fire for a few wordless moments. Tenten, once in a while, would rub her arms briskly with her palms. Neji, despite the thin robes he had on, didn't even bat an eyelash. Tenten could only grin as she watched him. He had always been serious about many things, though he had relatively lightened as compared to how he was back in his _Genin_ days. Oh, and hadn't he been the stiff little Hyuuga back then? Tenten reached out and poked at his arm gently.

Neji looked down at the spot where she had touched him, then shifted his gaze to Tenten's face. "What?"

Tenten flashed him a toothy smile. "It's cold."

Neji returned his gaze back to the kettle. "You should go back inside. I'll bring the hot water when it's ready."

Tenten nodded. "All right. I'll wake Lee up and maybe get some breakfast on the table. You don't mind eating in the clinic, right?"

Neji shrugged. "No. Besides, I don't think Lee would want to eat upstairs."

Tenten snorted. "And why would – " The obvious hit Tenten like a dart between the eyes, and she reached out with both her hands, grabbing Neji's sleeve anxiously. "Don't tell me Sai and Sakura… They weren't… _doing __stuff_, were they?"

Neji pulled his sleeve from her grasp roughly and stepped away from Tenten, straightening his robes self-consciously. "Now who's being nosy? It's the first time they're sleeping with the blinds rolled up."

Tenten felt her eyes bulge from their sockets. She had always known Sakura and Sai had their cots pressed against each other with wooden blinds to separate them when they sleep. For the past weeks they were there, those blinds were always drawn down. The news that Sai and Sakura had actually removed that thin boundary between them was not the one that shocked the Weapons mistress. It was the fact that Neji actually had the nerve to spy on the two even when they were asleep. She reached out again and grabbed at his ear, pulling hard. "You pervert!"

"Ow! What the – !" Neji cried as he swatted Tenten's hand away and took refuge behind their stack of firewood.

Tenten shook a fist at him threateningly. "This isn't the first time you've spied on them, is it?"

Neji crossed his arms over his chest, and the look on his face made Tenten lower her fist and back away a step. It was the look Neji reserved for those occasions when Tenten or Lee started to forget who the _Jounin_ was in the team. "You of all people should know this has to stop. I don't trust Sai. I don't think Sakura – or you, for that matter – should trust him, either."

Tenten bit her lower lip and looked away. She knew what Neji was trying to say, and she knew he was right. But they didn't have the right to tell Sakura who she should trust. But… was there really a reason to worry about Sakura's safety? Even if Sai were – by any chance, however slim those chances could be – to betray Sakura, Tenten doubted Sakura would take the betrayal lying down.

Neji glanced over his shoulder when the kettle started to whistle angrily, spouting out steam into the cool morning air. He flashed Tenten a look and said, "Let's not forget that Sakura is being hunted down by the people whose Sai's loyalties belong to. What do you think would happen to Gifu if Root decides to look for Sakura _here_?"

Tenten hurried over to the kettle and used her robe's sleeves to grab the hot handle. She slowly removed it from the fire. She was starting to get upset with Neji. It was not that she did not agree with him; she knew that they were risking the lives of people who could not defend themselves if anything short of an invasion of the colony broke out. But… where would they go if they left Gifu? She shifted the kettle into one hand and rubbed her nose with the back of her free one, her mood sinking. "I'm making tea," she said shortly as she moved to return to the Healer's hut.

She was surprised when she felt Neji's hand grabbing her free wrist loosely.

"Tenten, wait," the Hyuuga said. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to sound too morbid. I don't like this as much as you do, but we have to be vigilant about everything. We've disobeyed orders of the Sixth. He wants Sakura, who conveniently happens to have escaped Konoha with a Root agent. I can't help but doubt him."

Tenten lowered her chin to her chest. "I know. But… he's their teammate." She closed her eyes sadly. "I don't want to think of Sakura being betrayed again by a member of Team Kakashi. She's had enough of that already, you know?"

Neji dropped her wrist, and after a pregnant silence, he too nodded his head. "I know._All __too __well._ Let's just hope that everything turns out for the best. We shouldn't lower our guard, all right?"

Tenten nodded. "All right. I understand." And she slowly made her way back to the house with the kettle in her hand. Neji followed her wake, and she felt those eyes of his burning holes at the back of her head.

"And one more thing," Neji said.

Tenten looked over her shoulder curiously. It was not everyday Hyuuga Neji had an afterthought. He was usually efficient and to the point. "What?"

Neji paused a bit, then said, "Forget the tea for a minute. Come with me?" He leaned his head, gesturing with his chin towards the gates leading outside the garden.

Tenten suspiciously stared at her teammate a few seconds "Where to?"

"I think there's something you have to know about," Neji said.

Tenten took her time to think it over. It was not like Neji to ask her to accompany him out of the blue. "Sure. Let me, yeah, let me just put this inside."

Of course she was surprised to where he had to take her.

It wasn't hard to spot them. What had supposedly been a huge group of men in caravans and camels had now divided themselves into three groups and were now going their separate ways around the colony. It seemed like it had been Sai who had told Neji of the group's presence. Apparently, the suspicious group had been watching Gifu for over two weeks now, but since the Root Agent could not pinpoint their motives, he had left them alone.

Neji deactivated his _Byakugan_ and Tenten lowered the small binoculars she had unsealed from one of the compact scrolls she had within her robes. They had taken to laying low on a slope to the west a few miles west away from Gifu.

"What are they? Nomads?" Tenten asked, frowning.

"I doubt it. Nomads – or any traveling group for that matter – wouldn't linger around idly and waste water and food in the middle of harsh terrain," Neji said, lowering himself further down the slope and turning his back from the group. "At least they're not from the Leaf under Danzo's orders."

But one could never be sure. Tenten did not know how Root worked. It wasn't until Akatsuki became active that she had heard there was such an organization, and everything was basically a mystery to her. Gai sensei never spoke of it to them, or at least he never got the chance to do so.

Tenten crouched down beside her teammate, the binoculars disappearing under her robes. "But they've been there for two weeks already." She looked over the slope again at the group. "And truthfully, I don't see them capable of doing harm to the colony. The people of Gifu have no money or anything that would interest common vagabonds."

"They may not be after money."

"What would they want, then?"

"Water, maybe?" Neji moved away from the slope. "They're moving funny today. I'm not sure if they're friend or foe, but I just wanted you to be aware of them, especially since Sakura has not been feeling well lately."

Tenten followed him, gathering her skirts around her knees to be able to move faster. The sand was cool against her sandaled feet. Neji reached out a hand at her and she took it to stand up. She was surprised to find the muscles of his hands, his arms, all hard and tense.

"Are you all right?" she asked him, watching the back of his head intently. There was sand in his long, black hair, sand on his shoulders, and she had to control the urge to brush it away.

"Be vigilant, Tenten." Neji looked at her sideways, and those pale eyes showed that he was serious. The way his hand tightened around hers before letting go was what convinced Tenten that he was not, the very least, all right.

* * *

It was not rare for Sai's head to hurt when he was tired. He blamed it on his eyes. The truth was, he was terribly far-sighted. While he could hit a small, moving target as well as the next ninja, the village's ophthalmologist had prescribed glasses for him especially for reading for long periods of time.

Those glasses happen to be in the third drawer of his nightstand in his apartment. Unfortunately, that nightstand – and his apartment and everything along with it – had been blown to bits along with the rest of Konoha during the invasion.

Just thinking about it made Sai frown and he pinched the bridge of his nose to ward away the foreboding migraine. Sitting solemnly on the wooden table in the waiting area of the clinic, scroll upon scroll of patient's inventory spread before him, it was that rare moment when he wished he hadn't taken those pair of glasses for granted. Tonight was going to be a long, long day. It was barely noon and he already felt like lying down.

Lowering his head slightly into his hand, he shoved the scrolls to the side with his elbow and groaned. When he looked back up, he nearly fell off his chair when he found Rock Lee sitting across from him, his mouth set on his face like an upside-down 'W' and his round eyes determinedly staring at him passionately. Slowly sitting straighter on his chair, Sai warily rolled the scrolls and put them away in the wicker box where they would be safe in case Lee tried something eccentric. After making sure anything that mattered was out of harm's way, Sai returned his hands on top of the wooden table and waited for Lee to state his business. Much to Sai's discomfort, the _Taijutsu_ master didn't move – or blink – for the past minutes since he had magically materialized before him. Lee reminded him of the first time he had joined Team Seven for a mission. Naruto and Sakura had looked at him weird, and he had threatened to spank them for it. It had not yielded good results, so he assumed that threatening Lee wouldn't, either.

Sai gestured at Lee instead and asked, "What is it?"

Lee jumped slightly, but his eyes never left his face. If anything, his stare got even sharper, and he started fidgeting in his chair, as if not sure what to do next.

Sai cleared his throat and asked again, "Is there anything I can help you with?"

That was when Lee finally opened his mouth. It took a while before the words tumbled out. "I challenge you!" he said, and much to Sai's displeasure, Lee had to shout it out to him when he was merely two feet away. His voice echoed through his skull, making him wince.

Sai cocked his head to the side, wrinkled his nose in pain. "You… _challenge_ me? To what?"

"A duel, of course!" Lee said earnestly, planting his palms on the table in front of him and standing up so abruptly he nearly toppled his seat back. He sounded so enthusiastic that Sai could have thought that suddenly challenging someone out of the blue was nothing out of the ordinary to Lee. Of course, Sai couldn't have possibly known that it _wasn__'__t_ out of the ordinary for Lee at all.

Sai leaned back on his chair, as if subconsciously preparing himself to make a necessary escape when given that window of opportunity. "A duel?" he repeated flatly. "What ever for?"

Lee shook his head feverishly and he settled back down on his chair. Sai could see the boy was trying to control himself. It was not the first time he had been able to share personal space with the over-energetic boy, and once or twice he had come across his name when Danzo had ordered him to mingle with Team Seven. During those times Sai could say he had been relatively in good terms with him. However, come to think of it, ever since Team Gai had found them in Gifu, the _Taijutsu_ master had been nothing but unsociable, competitive and downright annoying towards him.

"For Sakura's honor, of course!" Lee said.

Sai raised his eyebrows in disbelief. No, he didn't think he was required to have such a stupid conversation with this person when his head was hurting so much his ears were ringing. He stood up, gathered the wicker basket full of scrolls under his arm and made to leave.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Lee demanded. The boy was up on his feet as well and had blocked Sai's path quickly. "You cannot leave when I just challenged you."

Sai narrowed his eyes at him. "There will be no challenge. The one who will be defending Sakura – and her honor, if you want to put it that way – is _I_. End of conversation."

Lee, for a moment looked like he was about to back down, but recovered quickly and he puffed up his chest, as if to make himself appear bigger. "I cannot accept that answer. I have as much right to protect her as you."

Sai pinched the bridge of his nose again and placed the wicker basket back down on the table. "It's not a matter of _right_. It's a matter of _duty_. It's my mission to protect her. If you want to somehow be her self-proclaimed bodyguard, I don't care. But challenging me for the sole position is a waste of time, because whether I win or lose, it's my life before hers. Now, if there's nothing important you want to say to me, I'm going to get some pain relievers, so please move out of my way."

Lee miraculously stepped aside and Sai stalked towards the cabinets containing the over-the-counter medical herbs. Much to Sai's disapproval, Lee trailed after him.

"You like her," Lee suddenly said in an angry and somewhat accusatory tone.

Sai pulled open the lower drawers and rummaged through it in search for that brown clay pot containing a stack of dried feverfew. "I don't _hate_ her, if that's what you're pointing out. She was my teammate, after all." He paused a bit when he realized he had used the past tense. Was she still a teammate now? Brushing away the thought, he continued his search of the herb.

Lee started to get restless. He hovered so close to Sai's shoulder that it made the hairs at the back of Sai's neck stand on end. "That's it. I think you are in love with her, which is why you greedily claim the title of her protector."

The absurdity of the statement made Sai's hand pause in mid-search again and he looked up to meet Lee's gaze from over his shoulder. What a ridiculous comment. Not only was it untrue, but it was highly improbable. He was not capable of containing such emotions. And even if he were, he wouldn't have been able to notice otherwise. "I don't _love_ her," Sai drawled blandly. "She is violent, most of the time cranky, and is more often than not a crybaby. I can't even keep count on the times she's cried over Sasuke. She's clingy and over-dependent on the people around her – Naruto, mostly – and she never appreciates the good things I do for her." He resumed his search for the pot, slightly getting a bit irritated because it looked like someone had taken it from its usual place and never bothered to put it back. "I personally don't understand why _you_like her so much."

And that seemed to have caught Lee unsuspectingly. The _Taijutsu_ master backed away a step, face reddening all over, even his ears. "H-how dare you speak about Sakura that way. I will not forgive you for it!"

"Do I look like I care? I think you're just being bitter about this because Sakura and I have to pose as a couple, and you're jealous. That's it, isn't it?" He might as well tell it how he sees it. Being blunt had always worked for him.

Lee's mouth opened and closed like a fish as he backed away even further. _"__That __has __absolutely __nothing __to __do __with __it!__"_

Sai, in a rare moment of pure frustration, abandoned his search for the pot of herbs and whirled around to face Lee. _"__Then __what __is __it?__"_

"I can feel it!" Lee blurted out, "It's the way you look at her. You talk about her faults but your eyes say differently."

Another thing Sai didn't understand. His eyes _don__'__t _say anything, whatever _that_meant. Sai stuffed his hand back into the drawer and wildly started tossing out jars and jars of herbs that were not feverfew. He did not like the state he was in right now. In fact, this has got to be the closest thing he had come to being what other people may call as _'__being __angry__'_. He was not comfortable with the feeling. He knew he was making a mess of Sakura's medicine cabinet, but seeing everything scattered on the floor somehow made the feeling more tolerable. "I don't look at her like that. Stop putting weird meanings in what I do."

Lee didn't seem to want to listen to him. "Be a man and admit that you have feelings for her! If you do not admit it, how can I consider you as my rival?"

Sai grabbed the final jar inside the drawer and, realizing that he had just emptied Sakura's stock onto the floor, sighed in resignation and dropped the jar back into the drawer. He ran his hands through his hair. "I don't want to be your rival. Please leave me alone." He added a 'please' there. Maybe that would make him go away.

Sai swore that he came close to hating Lee at that moment, because the boy had suddenly moved a step forward and was now sizing him up.

"If you do not have any sort of attachment to her, then it is fine if I ask her to watch the fireworks tonight," Lee said slowly, and as Sai looked back at the boy, he knew that he was dead serious about it. Lee turned away jerkily, as if he too lost the wind that was driving him earlier.

Now in normal circumstances, Sai would have just let the other boy walk away because it would be too bothersome to do otherwise. Plus, not only did Lee have nothing to do with whatever mission he had to perform, but it was the perfect way to end a conversation he had been happy to drop from the very beginning.

That was why he surprised himself when he grabbed Lee by the collar of his stupid green suit, yanked him back towards him and nearly snarled in his face. "Sakura's watching the fireworks with _me_."

Lee, those round eyes sharp and determined but not the least bit surprised, examined Sai's face intently. "Let me go. Violence is not tolerated here."

And of course, Sakura had to pick that perfect, perfect timing to suddenly walk into the clinic. She was wrapped in layer after layer of robes, and the hem of her skirt was a bit wet from the snow outside. Standing right behind her was Riho, looking absolutely excited as her eyes went from Sai to Lee then back again. In her arms was a bundle of thick sheets that was unmistakably baby Valu.

Sakura nearly dropped the small clay kettle she carried with her when she saw Sai half-strangling Lee.

"What on earth is going on here?" she demanded as she hurried over to where the two boys were. "Are you two fighting?"

Riho moved towards the hearth and shifted Valu from one arm to another. "Is this what they call a fight? I had thought it would be more… exciting. Of course, I've never witnessed a fight before, but I have heard men do it sometimes when they stake their claim on their properties." She paused a bit then nodded. "They remind me of wolves, really. Or dogs. Which ever."

Sai instantly let go of Lee and stepped back, but his gaze never left the _Taijutsu_ master. "We were just talking," he said, his hand unconsciously rubbing his temple roughly.

"Yes. We were talking," Lee seconded, crossing his arms over his chest.

Sakura suspiciously looked from Sai to Lee, then back again. "O… kay? Well, I hope you have a better excuse as to why my floor is littered with my herbs."

Sai made his way to the table, having a sudden urge to sit down. He buried his head in one hand. "I was looking for – "

"Feverfew for your migraine?" Sakura finished for him.

Sai looked up at her, surprised. "How – ?"

Sakura sat down beside him on the table, reached out for one of the clay mugs on the center of the table and sighed as she poured the kettle she had been carrying since she came into the clinic. "You always get migraines when you read for too long. Or so I've noticed for the past months. I made you your feverfew tea."

Sai's eyes traveled down to the steaming mug sitting before him and he blinked at it in awe. He hadn't realized that Sakura was actually aware of his routine of pouring himself a cup of the concoction when he was feeling under the weather, and this was the first time, actually, that she had voluntarily made him his dose of painkillers. He gingerly took the mug between his hands and slowly raised it to his lips for a sip. The taste surprised him even more. It was unmistakably the same herb she had used, but for some reason, this batch tasted different. He doubted she put anything else other than that herb, but it still tasted… _better._

Sakura stood from her seat and went to Lee. "I was wondering where you were, Lee. Do you have the time?"

Lee stood up straighter, his crossed arms suddenly rigid on either side of him. "Y-yes! Is there anything you need me to do?"

"Ah, yeah. Riho needs help with the shoveling of the snow in her garden. Do you think you can lend her a hand?"

Riho grinned over from the hearth. "I would do it myself, if it weren't for Valu."

Sai's head shot up and immediately stood, abandoning his drink. "I'll do it."

Sakura was at his side in a flash, her hands on either shoulder, firmly pushing him back into his seat. "You'll be staying here until you get better."

Lee pumped a fist into the air and did a little victory dance. "Hah! Take _that_, Sai! It is _I_who would do Sakura's chores for today." And in a hurry, the boy excitedly exited the clinic through the front door, looking over his shoulder one last time at Sai to give him a thumbs-up sign before disappearing into the whiteness of the garden outside.

Riho gathered Valu once again towards her and shook her head ruefully. "Oh… Oh, dear." She looked over to Sai. "I'm sure Lee would be able to handle the task as well as you, Sai. I suggest you follow the Healer's orders. You look paler than usual. And to think you are already paler than the average male. I heard from Tenten that it has something to do with the air from where you came from. I shall take my leave, if it pleases you." She lowered her head an angle and disappeared through the door after Lee.

Sai felt something that others could have called_ '__irritation__' _bubble up his gut. He waited for the door to close after Riho before he pushed his tea away and dropped his head onto the table with a groan. He couldn't wait to end this mission and have the usual 'go-fetch' ones. This was taking its toll on him. He could not even remember having been this miserable in a very long time.

He felt a gentle pressure squeezing his shoulders and he made an effort to raise his face. He ended up nose to nose with a worried-looking Sakura. He immediately looked away. He soon found out that this was not a good idea as it made his temple throb painfully. He reached out and downed his tea in one gulp.

"You should lie down. I'll get you a hot towel," Sakura said and she tried to pick him up under his elbow.

Sai tried to shrug her away, but Sakura was strong and her grip was firm. A few minutes passed and he found himself being wrestled into one of the collapsible cots Sakura had positioned right next to the hearth where she fed the fire more wood.

"I really don't want to lie down," Sai argued weakly as he tried to sit up on the cot.

Sakura shoved him back into his pillow and, to make sure he would not get back up, pressed down on his chest with the palm of one chakra-enhanced hand. "Men. You don't even know half of what you want, more so need. Now just stay still."

"I don't – " He was silenced when she draped the hot towel she had in one hand over his eyes. Sai could only groan in pleasure as the warmth did wonders to his aching head.

He felt Sakura sit down on the cot next to him. "You're as annoying as ever. Why don't you just listen to me until your head stops hurting?"

"It's just a migraine."

"No, it isn't just about that." He felt the hand on his chest move to his arm, Sakura's fingers lightly ironing out the folds of his robes. "You didn't seem like yourself earlier. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you just lost your patience back there with Lee."

Sai tilted his head away from her. She was not far from the truth. Though he could not explain what had just happened with his conversation with Lee, he hadn't liked the feeling. "He was being pushy," he said in resignation and he draped his arm over the towel covering his eyes. "I guess I didn't know that I don't like being pushed."

Sakura laughed so quietly Sai could barely hear it over the crackling fire of the hearth. "Lee's just being Lee. He's always been that way since we were _Genin_."

Sai peeked from beneath the towel, shifting it out of the way with a finger, one eye watching Sakura as she picked on the lint on his robes. "You seem to know a lot about him."

Another laugh. "He's caused me a few of my worries back when we first met."

Sai felt a muscle twitch under his eye and he rubbed at it with the back of his hand before covering his eyes with the towel and his arm again. "I don't trust him."

"You don't trust _anybody_," Sakura said dryly and her fingers resumed their lint-picking. "Not even me."

Sai did not know what to say to her. The warmth of the fire was making him drowsy, and now that the medicine was kicking in, he was afraid he would fall asleep. "It's a mutual feeling. You don't trust me, either, right?"

"That's not true. It's not that I don't trust you." Her voice was hesitant. Sai couldn't help but once again peek from under his arm, and he found her faintly blushing. She met his gaze head on. "Old habits are just hard to break, and deep down inside I still feel like as if you're hiding something from me."

Sai blinked up at her and he slowly pushed himself to a sitting position, letting the towel slide down to his shoulder. This time Sakura did not stop him. "There's nothing to hide. Literally. When we left the Leaf, there wasn't much we had going on. Everything was in chaos, and the only instructions I got were to get you out and keep you safe. And then Team Gai comes into the picture with pretty much nothing with them as well. They think I'm here under Danzo's orders, and I think _they__'__re_ here under Danzo's orders." He scratched the side of his neck, a bit restless. "It's natural for us to doubt each other when we're practically running around in circles, lacking orders. Ninja don't loiter. We usually have someone telling us what to do."

Sakura pursed her lips, and Sai knew she understood what he had just said to her. Then she shook her head. "That doesn't give you an excuse to be rude to them, or to fight with them." She gave her littered floor a sad look. "Or to put it out on my stuff."

Sai gave her a blank look. "It won't happen again. I'm sorry. Let me clean that up for you."

Sakura stopped him. "It's fine. I can do it myself. You don't have to do odd jobs for me all the time. You don't have to take your job too seriously."

"But," Sai started, he too looking down at the clutter of bottles and jars on the otherwise spotless floor. "I don't mind doing odd jobs for you."

Sakura wrinkled her nose. "Why?"

Sai shrugged. "Because if I don't, Lee will insist on doing it. And I don't like it when he does it."

More nose-wrinkling. "Again, why?"

Sai thought for a moment. He thought really hard, and in that split second it was like he had an epiphany. Eyes wide, he turned to Sakura and said, "I don't know."

Sakura frowned at him. "You don't know?"

Sai nodded excitedly. "Yes. _I __don__'__t __know_."

"_You __don__'__t __know?__"_ Sakura asked again.

Sai smiled at her. Now that his migraine was dulled down by the medicine, his mood was relatively getting better, and he hopped down the cot, abandoned the towel he had on his shoulder, hurried across the clinic and grabbed the cloak he had hanging on the peg by the door. "Yeah. But I'm going to find out. I'll be back in an hour or so." He threw the cloak over his shoulders happily.

Sakura was on her feet as well, absolutely lost. "Wait, what? Where are you going? Are you feeling better?"

"Absolutely. See you later," he said with a wave and he dashed out of the clinic and into the snow, Sakura protesting loudly behind him.

He knew exactly where to look. Noa lived by herself in the outskirts of the colony in a small house made of rock and clay. He had been to the place several times last month to ask the girl to keep Sakura company when he went to patrol outside colony grounds, and he had to admit, the place was neat and clean, as opposed to the first impression Noa had made on him with all the camel droppings she liked burying around their property. The garden was small, but Noa tended to the herbs and plants properly. At the moment there was a makeshift vinyl greenhouse propped up to keep the herbs safe from the cold.

Sai looked down at the snow-covered ground and found tiny footprints all around the house, as if the girl had been running around it in frenzy. He could tell the latest of the footprints were the ones that led inside and so he was sure Noa was present. Making his way to the door, he examined the small greenhouse curiously and saw tiny little sprouts coming out of the soil. He didn't know what they were called, but they did not look too healthy to him. Turning away from the dying sprouts, Sai raised a fist and knocked on the door twice. No one answered. Sai tried the doorknob. It turned easily and the door quietly opened.

The heat hit his face like a wave, and his instant reaction was to raise his sleeve to his nose. It seemed like Noa wasn't at all stingy with her firewood; it may easily have been forty degrees inside her house. Along with the heat came a distinct smell of chamomile. Sai coughed into his sleeve and stepped inside, closing the door behind him.

The house was, unmistakably, a Healer's house. And though Noa's workplace was a lot messier and very compact as compared to Sakura's, Sai thought that it had a certain air that said Noa was just as serious with the medical arts as the next Healer.

Her desk, which was too big for the house itself, was situated right in the middle of the room dividing her workplace from her living space. On top of it was an assortment of dried plants in jars, stone mortars and, much to Sai's surprise, a small vanity mirror with the tiny drawers overflowing with colorful hair pins and sparkly headbands. Even though Sai had been here many times before, it was actually the first time he had stepped inside and taken in the detail of the place.

He had to admit, it was very uninspiring.

Aside from the vanity that could possibly be the only sign that indicated a girl was actually living in the house, everything else had little to no evidence of Noa's personality. A small round table was sitting out of place in the corner by the door, where an abandoned bowl of pickled plum and gruel was left forgotten. A small chair here, an old exotic-looking oil lamp there, shelves containing more and more jars and bottles – not books – pushed against the left wall, the right wall bare and lonely except for a hearth where a blazing fire was crackling lively. Noa's clinic didn't have any cots, or a waiting area for that matter. It was obvious she was studying medicine, not to heal people, but because she just liked to do so, like a hobby.

At the other end of the room was a door that most probably led to the rest of Noa's house. He could hear a lot of shuffling from that end of the room. Assuming that Noa must be busy, he crossed the clinic to the hearth and used the poker to knock away some of the burning logs into the stone pavement surrounding the fireplace. The girl was obviously unaware that she was going to get herself steamed alive with this heat. Once he had extinguished the fire into a reasonable size, he propped his hip against the desk and fingered the vanity mirror curiously. It was a fine thing, if it weren't for the chipped edges.

Sai's hand traveled down to the half open drawers and plucked a hair pin with green stones on it. Flipping it on the palm of his hand, he examined the tiny accessory thinking it would look pretty on Sakura's hair. Perhaps if he asked nicely, Noa would give it to him. Making sure not to forget about it, he placed it on the edge of the desk and stood up to see what was taking Noa so long. He turned just in time to see the tiny girl emerge from the other side of the room, wearing nothing but a thin, white slip that clung to her lithe body on the right places.

It was strange. Her body was not how he had imagined it would be. Through the slip she was wearing, he could tell she had small but nicely shaped breasts, a narrow waist.

When she saw that she was not alone, she jumped a bit, stopped in her tracks.

With one hand, she grabbed a discarded robe on the floor by her feet and hugged it to her chest. Her other hand was instantly around a frying pan that was conveniently hanging on the peg on the wall right next to her. She thrust it forward between her and Sai. Of course, the fifteen-foot distance between them couldn't _possibly_ have been enough to protect her from Sai, who looked as stoic as ever. "What the hell are you doing here, you pervert!"

"Hello," Sai greeted her. "I knocked on your door, but you didn't answer. It wasn't locked so I let myself in." He had to raise his eyebrows in amusement as the girl backed away a bit, the frying pan still threateningly raised between them. He had taken her by surprise, it seemed. For someone who had shown great potential as a sensor, he was mildly disappointed. He wasn't even trying to be stealthy. He tilted his head to the side. "You didn't sense I was here?"

Noa scowled at him, as if he had just said something lewd to her. "I can _never_ sense you. You're this one big black hole in my life," she said crankily. When she was sure Sai was not going to approach her, she hung the frying pan back on its peg and pulled her robe over her shoulders.

Sai crossed his arms over his chest, watching Noa struggle with her robe. "How strange," he said.

Noa glared at him evilly as she circled the desk, making sure to avoid getting within a two-feet radius from him. "What is?"

Sai shrugged. "The way you covered your _body_ instead of covering your _hands_."

Noa stopped dead on her tracks and she instantly shoved her bare hands inside the sleeves of her robe. "Th-that's because I know how male outsiders like you find ogling women's bodies a naughty past time." She stressed on the word _'__outsider__'_.

Sai blinked at her. "Oh, don't worry. I didn't find your body sexually stimulating. At all."

"Why you – !" Noa's hand shot out of her sleeve, grabbed the nearest thing she could – which was a heavy-looking clay pot – and threw it at Sai.

It would have been easier to just dodge it, but that would mean he would have to help Noa clean up later if he just let that pot crash into the shelf behind him. He caught it easily and put it down on the desk. "Ah. I forgot women don't like to be told the truth about their looks. Sorry." He caught another clay pot that came his way again and placed it on the desk next to the one Noa threw earlier. "Stop that."

Noa bared her teeth and looked as if she was about to snap something to him. A moment of silence and she still hadn't spoken. Instead she pulled at her sleeves to cover her hands. "What do you want? You want me to watch over that girl again for you? I can't. I'm busy."

"That's not what I came here for. I don't really intend to stay that long. I just wanted to ask you something very important."

Noa rolled her eyes. "And what on this planet could be more important than _Princess __Sakura?_"

"Absolutely nothing. I wanted to ask you if you think I could be in love with her."

A long, very, very uncomfortable silence followed that sentence. Noa stared at him in disbelief, one eyebrow slowly rising, disappearing under her disheveled bangs. She was frozen in her place, once in a while her fingers clenching and unclenching themselves from under her sleeves.

Sai did not understand her reaction. He had asked a straight question. He was expecting a straight answer. "What?"

Noa grabbed a potted cactus from the floor by her feet. She raised it over her head and Sai braced himself for her prickly attack. He was surprised when she wilted in her place and she lowered the cactus. "Why are you asking me that?" she asked in a near whisper.

"I thought you knew the answer. It had taken me to think you can sense emotions people felt. A curious skill, really." He eyed her steadily. "Of course, that was just an assumption. I could be wrong."

"No."

"I'm right then?"

She shook her head.

Sai narrowed his eyes at her. Now she was starting to contradict herself.

"I can sense your feelings because I can sense how your chakra fluctuates through your body."

Now Sai was seldom caught off-guard by anything. This was one of those rare circumstances. He doubled over, leaning back on the desk for support. "Chakra? Did you say chakra?" How and why a civilian like Noa would know anything that concerned chakra was beyond him. Or was it?

Noa raised her eyes at him in wonder. "There. Just now, I sensed you reacting to what I just said. There are moments when you give me windows of opportunities to know what you feel. Majority of the time, you're just… this _black__hole_. Why is that?"

Sai felt his jaw set stiffly as he felt the surprise from earlier slide off him. She must be talking about his training with Root. "You must be mistaken. There are no _'__windows __of __opportunities__'_ for you to see through me. That's not how I work."

"You're the one who's mistaken. Humans don't _'__work__'_. They just _'__are__'_."

"You can't read my feelings because I don't have the capacity to feel."

"That's bullshit!" Noa spat, and she edged towards him hastily. "You seem so convinced that you can't feel, but all you're really doing is schooling your chakra to buffer physiological arousal, suppress normal expressive behavior and ignore what would normally be a conscious experience. I've never met anyone like you before. And it bothers the hell out of me."

Sai, still reeling a bit from the revelation that Noa was starting to give him lessons about what was going on in his brain, pushed away from the desk and stepped towards the tiny girl. "And why does it bother you?"

Noa backed away a bit. "Because denying the fundamentals of emotions is the same as denying you're human. And what's more disturbing, is that you seem to be doing it out of your own free will." She gave him a frightened, almost pitiful look. "You're human, aren't you?"

Sai felt an uncomfortable sensation spread at the back of his neck, and he rubbed at it with a sweaty hand. He had heard about people like Noa. This certain shinobi skill was an in-born trait to some, but even if one was born with the skill, harnessing it would not have been possible outside guidance from a hidden village. So right now, Sai was convinced that Noa had, in fact, been to a hidden village and could possibly have studied there for a period of time. Now the mystery of why she was in a colony in the middle of nowhere egged his curiosity. The way she was looking at him now, as if looking for more holes in his façade, was not helping any.

He had understood what she was trying to say. And she was right. The training he had with Root did not wipe out human emotions completely; human emotion is an experience of an individual's state of mind as interacting with biochemical and environmental experiences. It was not something any amount of training could erase so long as that individual was alive. What Sai was capable of doing, along with everyone in Root, was to alter the affective component to motivation that emotions provided.

Meaning, he had defined himself as _'__emotionless__'_ because he had chosen to simply suck it in. He can_ '__choose__' _not to be angry. He can _'__choose__' _not to be guilty. Root's training had been without fault that he was even capable of using his chakra to control bodily responses, like not smiling, or not frowning.

_Or not kissing back…_

Sai shook himself. The thought had passed his mind's eye for a split second before it was gone. He ran his hand through his hair.

Noa warily took half a step towards him. "You… _What __are __you?_"

Of course, there was no way he was going to tell her. He let his hand drop to his side. "That," he said, "is a secret. Or come to think of it, I'd rather ask what _you _are."

In response to this, the Noa girl roughly grabbed his face on either side with her tiny hands, and, much to Sai's horror, pressed her lips firmly against his. He did not know how to describe it. He had been kissed by Sakura once before, and this kiss did not feel at all different than that time when Sakura had tackled him in front of the whole colony and smooched him passionately. But for some reason, having Noa's mouth against his has got to be one of the most uncomfortable things he had ever experienced in his life. Not to mention that it felt so very wrong.

Now, in all honesty, if he were to simply abide by the rules of the training he's had with Root, he would have just sat back and alter the affective component to motivation emotions provided with his chakra. He could have just allowed Noa to kiss him until she was satisfied, and then go his merry way without embarrassing her.

But for the love of him, he did not know what made him grab the girl's wrists and pry her away from him. Noa pulled back and searched his face with those big green eyes of hers. Sai looked down at her mouth. Those lips had tasted of pickled plum. He remembered Sakura tasted of wine. "Why did you do that?" His grip slackened around her wrists and Noa moved a step away from him.

Then she slapped him across the face. "Ask me that after you kiss her. Now get the hell out of here."

The smack on his cheek stung as it should, but it was dulled by the bubbling curiosity the girl had planted in him. He wiped his cheek with the back of his hand. "I'll keep that in mind, then."

"Yeah. You do that." Noa touched her fingers to her lips and wiped at it unconsciously. "I'm sure that if you hang around her as you always do, you'll find the answer." She turned her back to him. He took this as the dismissal that it was, and so he made his way to the door to leave. He was once again caught off-guard when he felt something small and hard hit the back of his head. It dropped onto the floor.

It was the hair accessory he had meant to ask from Noa. Sai bent down to retrieve it. He slipped it inside his pocket, turned to Noa one final time and said, "Thanks."

Noa turned her back to him, not saying anything.

And he left for home, where Sakura would be waiting for him. He could not say his head was clearer after talking to Noa – which was disappointing. He had expected enlightenment, but instead the girl had planted more confusing possibilities in his head. He hated that.

* * *

It had been dark all day, and the only sign that night time had really arrived was the amount of activity in the colony. Sakura had been busy with moving the plants from the second story veranda into the clinic where it was warm, and while she would have appreciated to have Sai around to help with the task, for some reason the Root agent had buried himself under his blankets in his cot ever since he got back from his little excursion.

Sakura could not understand him. She had been cleaning up her clinic – of the mess Sai himself had made – when he had come back. When she asked him where he had been, he simply stared at her, patted her on the shoulder and proceeded upstairs to lie down on his cot. At first Sakura thought that his head was still aching…

But that had been four hours ago…

"Sakura, this is the last of your Aloe Vera," Tenten said as she stomped the snow off her sandals and hurried inside the clinic with three brown planters in her arms.

Sakura hurriedly descended the stairs and took two of the planters from the Weapons mistress. "Thanks. I wish they had told me it snows like this during the Solstice. Then I could have at least done this yesterday…"

Tenten was watching her as they placed the planters on the corner with the rest of Sakura's herbs. "Tomona stopped by last night to tell you about it, but you were already asleep."

"Wait, what? Then why didn't you just wake me up and tell me about it?" Sakura asked in disbelief.

Tenten grinned slyly. "Because Sai wouldn't let us wake you up. Or better yet, he just doesn't allow anyone to come near you when you're resting." Her expression changed from slyness to worry. "You're always early to bed. We're starting to wonder what you're doing everyday that tires you this much."

Sakura rubbed her forehead uncomfortably. She could not even begin to tell Tenten about the scroll Tsunade-sama had entrusted her, more so talk about how much chakra she spends every day just trying to learn the theory behind the Creation Rebirth. "I'm fine, really. I'm sorry if I make you worry because of it."

"If you say so. I don't plan to push too hard when it concerns your husband."

"He's not my husband."

"Your fiancée then? Whatever." Tenten laughed. "Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean to tease you. It's just that Sai acts like – "

"I know, I know," Sakura interrupted. She did not have to be reminded that Sai was acting the way he was acting.

"Speaking of Sai, he's here, isn't he?" Tenten asked as she threw a few pieces of firewood into the hearth before the two of them settled onto the couch in the waiting area of the clinic.

"Yeah. He's in his cot, either sleeping, or dead." Sakura said, pulling her legs up onto the couch and folding them under her skirt. "He left earlier after taking his medicine, then came back acting like a zombie. I'm not saying I'm not worried because I am. But when I tried to ask him something, he pretended not to hear me. It took everything I had not to drag him out of his blankets by his ear." She nestled her chin on her palm. "And here I thought we were going to watch the fireworks together."

Tenten leaned back on the couch and let her head loll on the backrest. "A date?"

"Get out of my case," Sakura said dully. She had sort of gotten used to Tenten's teasing. Sort of.

"Well, let's just hope he decides to get up before the festival starts. It looks like it's getting livelier out there as we speak."

Tenten was not wrong. They could here the hustle and bustle of the people all the way from the clearing.

Sakura grabbed the long, colorful scarf she had draped over the backrest of the couch and wrapped it around her head out of habit. Well, it was not as if she had been looking forward to watching those fireworks with Sai. If the guy did not want to get up from his bed and join the happening outside, she could always find something else to do with her time.

Sakura turned to Tenten. "Want to go together?"

"Huh? You and me?"

Sakura nodded.

Tenten smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry. Neji and I are busy tonight."

Sakura had to gasp. It was actually the first time Tenten had put into words that she and Neji had things 'planned'. When Tenten saw the look on her face, she immediately laughed, waving her hand in front of her face.

"Oh no, no! Don't get me wrong. It's not like anything you're thinking," the Weapons mistress said, but nonetheless did not elaborate on what they were doing tonight that was so important that Tenten had turned Sakura down especially when she was usually so keen on being with her.

Sakura sighed in resignation. "Okay. I understand. It's not like I can't watch fireworks by myself or anything."

"I'm really sorry."

Sakura looked up when the door of the clinic admitted Lee and Neji. The two had been hauled away by Tomona a few hours ago for the final preparations of the clearing and the setting up of the fireworks on a low slope a quarter of a mile away from the outskirts of Gifu. There, the traders and a few of the men of the colony were preparing for the lighting.

"Welcome home," Tenten greeted her teammates as she stood up from her place on the couch to receive the two boys' rucksacks. She deposited them on the side table on the other side of the room.

Lee shook the snow from the legs of his green body suit. "We are back. It is not as cold as I had thought it would be outside." His eyes shifted from the floor to Sakura then back again. "It would be a perfect night to watch the fireworks."

Neji approached the hearth where a few sets of cloaks and mufflers were hanging out to dry on the makeshift hangers Sai had set for them earlier. "Not as cold, but cold nonetheless. Tenten, dress warmly."

Tenten rolled her eyes as she went to Neji's side and took a muffler from the hangers. She started wrapping the object around her neck. When she raised her arms over her head, Sakura caught a glimpse of her feet. Sakura was surprised to find the Weapons mistress wearing her shinobi sandals, not the mesh sandals Gifu had provided them. She could see the ruffles of the ends of her usual loose pants tucked under her footwear.

"Yes, father. Now, don't _you_forget to dress warmly," Tenten said and had no sooner grabbed another muffler and was now hurriedly twisting it around a protesting Neji's head.

"What are you trying to do?" Neji demanded, his voice strangled from within the muffler. He tore at it with his hands and Sakura saw those Hyuuga eyes peeking from under layers of scarf.

"Making sure you don't catch cold, dear leader."

Neji poked his head out of the top of the muffler, pulling his long hair free and letting it fall down his shoulders. "I appreciate the thought," he said dryly. "But we have to go."

"Of course," Tenten said, mimicking his dull voice while pulling her hood over her head.

Neji turned to look around the clinic. "Where's Sai?"

Sakura jerked her thumb over her shoulder. "Up there."

"He's been in bed for hours," Tenten added in a stage whisper.

Neji paused, then said worriedly, "Is he all right?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Because he isn't glued to your side?" Tenten offered.

"Tenten and I have to leave for a while. We should call him down," Neji suggested, hesitating a bit by the door with Tenten.

"It is all right. I will watch over Sakura while you are gone," Lee said, rolling the sleeves of his suit and sitting down by the hearth. He was wriggling his toes near the fire, his back to Sakura.

Neji relaxed evidently. "Ah, then at least we can rest assured someone's here to protect her."

Sakura felt the annoyance bubble up within her at the way they were talking.. It was as if they didn't think she could _hear_them talk about her. "No need to worry about me," she muttered sarcastically. "Don't forget I'm a kunoichi of the Hidden Leaf. You know, don't let the pink hair fool you or anything."

Neji seemed not to hear her as he gently tucked the loose strands of Tenten's hair into her hood. "Very well. Let's go."

Tenten nodded and she patted her pockets, as if to make sure she had everything she needed. "Yep, let's go. We're counting on you, Lee."

And the two disappeared through the clinic door, letting in a gust of cold wind until they shut it behind them.

Sakura sniffed loudly into the silence Neji and Tenten left her in and turned to Lee. She had not seen the _Taijutsu_ master ever since his 'fight' with Sai, but it did not look like his mood had improved much since then.

She thought it better to try to start a civil conversation. "Would you like some tea?"

Lee visibly jumped from his place by the hearth. "I – I – I… !" He took a deep breath then said, "I would love that," in a huff.

Sakura got up from the couch, gathered the tea set from the center table and brought it near the hearth next to Lee. "I'll get a kettle boiling quick."

"Thank you," Lee said nervously. He had withdrawn his feet under him, like a frightened turtle, and his hands were placed palms down on his lap.

Sakura hung the small kettle on the hook over the fire and she leaned back on her arm as she looked over at Lee. "So…" she started. "The preparations went well?"

Lee nodded slowly, putting an extra effort not to meet her eye for some reason. She had to frown at this. The boy had admittedly had a crush on her back in their _Genin_ days, and she had always thought it to be quite creepy. But their relationship as batch mates had improved quite well over time in the last two years. She hoped to the gods that he was not about to revive those creepy feelings for her anytime soon.

Lee cleared her throat. "Ah, since we do not have anything else to do, and the celebration is about to start for the Solstice, perhaps you would not mind if I accompanied you to watch the firewo – "

There was a loud stamping from the second floor, and before Sakura knew it, Sai was pummeling down the stairs so fast she was not able to react when the Root agent had grabbed her by the wrist and yanked her to her feet in one swift move. Lee was also on his feet, and had moved away from Sai as he held Sakura by the waist and pressed her to his side firmly.

"Well, good morning to you to?" Sakura started, hoping to lighten the sudden darkening mood between her teammate and Rock Lee. She pressed a hand on his chest gently when she saw he was giving Lee that usual blank stare he always had on his face. "Are you feeling all right?"

Sai looked down at her for a brief moment before that eerie smile appeared on his mouth. "Yes. I'm fine."

Sakura frowned at him, her eyes scanning his face to be sure he was telling the truth. Of course, she did not believe him. Someone who'd stay in bed for four hours straight was simply _not_all right in her book. "Maybe you should let me have a look at you – "

"I'm fine," he repeated as he let go of her waist and once again grabbed her wrist gently. "Let's go."

Sakura's eyes widened. "Go? Go where?" she asked, confused.

Lee backed away from them a few steps, his mouth set in that upside down 'W' again, but did not say anything. He kept on sending some unknown message to Sai with his eyes, however.

Sai pulled her along towards the door after throwing a robe over her shoulders with one hand. His other hand did not let go of her wrist. "Out," he answered her as he led her outside into the garden.

"Wait! The water - ! Lee, sorry! Can you remove the kettle from the heat when – What are you doing?" Sakura demanded when Sai closed the door in Lee's face when she was still not finished talking. This did not amuse her. She turned to face Sai to give her a piece of her mind when she felt him push her back against the door then trap her with both his hands on either side of her head. The door was cold against her skin and the snow in her garden had managed to wriggle its way between her toes.

Sakura resisted the urge to knee him between the legs. She crossed her arms over her chest, not the least bit intimidated. "What do you want?" she asked bluntly.

"I need to tell you something," Sai said, his dark eyes reflecting the dim lights of the fire coming from the far clearing. "I just found out about it earlier, so I'm going to say sorry in advance for this."

Sakura was not impressed. She cocked one eyebrow up. "Well?"

Sai lowered his head a moment before once again looking up. And the words that popped out of his mouth had Sakura reeling. "I think I may have fallen in love with you without me noticing it."

Sakura blinked. He may as well have told her the snow around them was on fire. _"__Excuse__me?__"_

"I think I'm in love with you. So yes, I'm apologizing in advance, because from now on you might find me more annoyingly clingy and overprotective, and I understand women find that either totally adorable or unbelievably aggravating."

Sakura blinked again. How was one supposed to answer to this sort of conversation when you were in the cold, dark garden with your supposed fiancée telling you he was in love with you? By then, she did not even know what to think; her surroundings suddenly felt searing hot, and at first she thought it was just her.

Until an explosion erupted somewhere from the East, followed by distant screaming.

And the next thing Sakura knew was that Sai had her wrapped in his arms as the world around her erupted into flames.

* * *

_A/N: Sorry for the late update. Sorry for the too long chapter. For some reason, Fanfiction's document manager deletes the spaces between strings of words that are in italics. Am I the only one with this problem, I wonder. Anyway, I edited it again, but there could have been some that I missed within the chapter. Feel free to point it out if it bothers you, and I'll correct it once I get the chance. ^^_


	13. Death

**Chapter 13**

**Death**

* * *

In fairness, Sai was confident to know that in the natural order of things, heartfelt love confessions were not usually followed by flaming explosions. So, with the confidence of knowing he did _not_ do anything wrong with his confession and was pretty sure that there was absolutely _no way _Sakura could have taken his words any other way, he could at least look for those who had ruined his perfect moment and kill them in peace.

Sakura, who looked like she had inhaled a fair amount of smoke coming from the burning lump of clay that used to be their kitchen, was coughing violently against his chest as he rolled her off the ground and pulled her against him as he stood. Slipping one of the hidden kunai from under his robes, he forced it into Sakura's hand and instantly pushed her against the wall of the healer's house as the eastern wall around their garden exploded in a swirl of fire and rock. She cowered under him as he shielded her with his body.

The kunoichi in her kicking in, Sakura had her kunai in front of her and the wall of smoke surrounding them. "What's going on?" Sakura demanded once she finally got ahold of herself and looked around with slightly dilated eyes.

There could be several answers to her question. He doubted that this was Danzo's work; the man preferred undetected, clean and fast invasions over flashy, noisy raids. And this was definitely flashy and noisy. Sai was willing to bet it had something to do with the suspicious group parading around the parameter of the colony. But he hadn't thought them capable of ambushing them. He did not even detect them carrying this much firepower with them at all.

Lee catapulted out of the Healers house, nearly stumbling against the rubble that was once a part of their roof. "An attack?" He was looking around, his hands poised in his usual fighting stance.

Sai bit his lower lip, letting his mind form a plan that would secure Sakura's immediate safety. Thinking fast, he shoved Sakura into a surprised Lee's arms. "Take Sakura and go. As far away from here as possible."

Sakura's eyes widened as she balanced herself against Lee's arm. "What are you talking about? We have to check the others. There was screaming from the clearing! We have to help them!"

And as if to punctuate her remark, another explosion came from three different places around them. More scattered screaming from a distance. Sai looked back into the house, considering a quick dive back in for his _tanto_. "No. This doesn't concern us." The best thing to do was to get away. And fast.

He did not even realize Sakura had advanced towards him until he felt her clutching at his robes. "Can you hear yourself talking? These people can't – _won't_ – fight even if their life depended on it. If we don't do something – "

"Exactly," Sai interrupted, gripping her wrists tightly before prying her fingers from him. "We aren't supposed to be here. _You _aren't supposed to be here. No one who can fight is supposed to be in Gifu. It would only raise more suspicion if we do."

Sakura looked completely scandalized. "But we don't even know if this is about us!"

"I don't care. Just get out of here and I'll find that out by myself. Lee, please?"

The _Taijutsu_ master looked torn between doing what Sai asked of him, and probably between his own conscience. In the end, Lee nodded, though hesitatingly, and took Sakura gently by the hand. "Let us go."

Sakura shrugged him off. "No. This isn't right. We can't just turn a blind eye on these people."

Sai did not think he had time for this. In fact, he was _sure_ he didn't have time for this. Taking the small, compact scroll he had hidden along with his other kunai, he had several mice scattering throughout the now burning colony in a heartbeat. The first thing to do was to identify their enemy as discreetly as possible and not give away their disguise. He turned to Sakura quickly, grabbing her roughly by the forearms. "Listen to me, Sakura. Whether this concerns us or not, we cannot fight for the safety of these people when they themselves won't do so, because it's their way of life. It's their belief. Now, get away from here. As fast as you can." He nodded at Lee again. "Lee. Take her. Please."

This time, Sakura turned to Lee earnestly. "You honestly don't think this is the right thing to do?"

"I…" Lee started, visibly disturbed.

That was when Noa suddenly burst through the fire and smoke, rolling across their snow-covered garden like a tiny cannon ball. She was dressed in the robes she had worn when Sai had visited her earlier. She was wearing nothing on her feet. Her fiery red hair was a tangled mess around her face, and although Sai was already used to seeing her this disheveled, there was – _something_ – in her eyes that he had not seen before.

She was scared like crazy.

"What are you doing?" she demanded as she nearly tackled Sai to the ground. "Take her away from here and _go!_ Hurry!"

Sai searched the girl's face wildly. Did Noa know what the enemy wanted? Did she know who the enemy was? "What's going on?" he asked her.

"There's no time to explain!" Noa said. "They're after _her_. They know she's here. _They want her!"_ she pointed sharply at Sakura, who instantly took a step back.

"_Who _wants me? What are you talking about?" Sakura demanded shakily.

Noa turned to Sakura, and then to Sai. "The moment you came to Gifu, I told you to leave. If you'd listened to me then, this wouldn't be happening."

"Wait, what?" Sakura asked, her hands evidently tightening around the kunai in her hand. "_What's _happening?"

"This isn't the time!" Sai shouted.

Sakura, Lee and Noa stared at him, dumbfounded. Sai never raised his voice. Satisfied at getting their attention, he turned to Lee again. "Where are Neji and Tenten?"

"They left a few minutes before you came down to the clinic," Lee said. "They may not have gotten far."

Sai nodded. "Take Sakura and go." If Noa was telling the truth about this still unknown enemy being after the Healer, he wasn't about to take chances. He then faced the red-haired girl. "You. You're coming with me."

For an instant, Noa looked frightened, but she nodded after a while. She said to Lee, "They would know where the Healer's house is. I wouldn't be surprised if they're headed this way now. You should go round the back."

Sakura was still being stubborn. "If they're headed this way, then we should just wait for them and get this over with. I'll make them regret even thinking of coming here."

Nao eyed her up and down. "Sorry, pinky, but with the way your chakra's fluctuating, I don't think you'd be able to hold your ground with these people."

Sai also took his time examining Sakura with his eyes. He did not have to have Noa's weird skill to see the signs that she was not fit for fighting, if ever she did get her way. He remembered having easily manhandled her against the door of the Healer's house to tell her he loved her.

Sai was aware of Sakura's strength back when they were still a part of Team Seven. That strength was not here now. It was because of that damn scroll she was studying.

Then, as if Sakura had thought about the same thing Sai was thinking, gave a little jump and turned to the now burning house. "Tsunade-sama's scrolls!" She moved as if to leap into the flaming clinic.

Lee took this chance and unceremoniously used the side of his hand to chop at an unsuspecting Sakura behind the head, and the girl fell like a rag doll into Lee's waiting arms. The _Taijutsu_ master gave Sai a serious look as he slung Sakura over one shoulder. "I am taking her to the desert basin. You… will be all right?"

It was strange. Lee looked genuinely worried for him. This did not erase the fact that there was a sudden weird feeling he had in his gut when he saw how Lee had one of his arms wrapped around an unconscious Sakura's waist. Ignoring the feeling, Sai nodded. "I'll be fine. Take care of her. I'll try to find Neji and Tenten along the way."

Another explosion rocked the ground and Lee gave Sai one final nod before the green-clad boy disappeared through the thick barrier of smoke closing in on them. Lee was fast, strong and he cared for Sakura dearly. He had no doubt that he could take Sakura to safety without a problem.

Noa let out a scream when a big lump of flaming clay fell from the sky and demolished what was the left of the Healer's house's gate. It was the girliest scream Sai had heard from her yet.

Sai yanked her to him by the arm and nearly dragged her through one of the still intact windows of the Healer's house. Half of the clinic was already demolished. He had to hurry and grab his _tanto_ and Sakura's scrolls from the second floor. He pointed to the drawers behind the Healer's desk. "Go salvage whatever medicine you can, Noa."

Noa, looking a bit relieved to finally find a sense of direction, nodded and clumsily made her way towards the drawers. She threw her arms over her head and screamed again when another explosion shook the house, causing one of the shelves to topple over. A shower of clay pots, jars and marble cascaded unto the floor, missing Noa by a few feet.

When he saw Noa was safe and had scrambled to her feet and had started digging into the drawers for medicine, Sai bolted up the rickety staircases into the second floor. If the clinic was a mess, the second floor was nearly completely annihilated. On top of the space where their dining table used to be was a gaping hole obviously made by the gigantic burning ball of rock sitting on undefined furniture Sai suspected as their couch. Much to his relief, their cots were still intact, if a bit singed in the corners. He pounced on the secret tile under the dresser next to the cots, retrieving the bundle of colorful cloth Sakura used to keep her scrolls. Right next to it was his backpack where he stored his own calligraphy scrolls, inks and his _tanto_. Slinging the bag over his back out of habit, he weighed the weapon in his hand before slipping it on the sheath over the left shoulder strap of his backpack. Sakura's scrolls went straight into the safety of his robes.

Sai's head shot up when he heard Noa let out another ear-piercing scream from the first floor. He nearly flew down the stairs, helping himself from unsheathing his _tanto_. He had expected more fire, more explosions. The last he expected to find in the clinic were three men in dark robes, turbans and veils thrown over their heads. It was impossible to identify who they were.

They had obviously come through the now unrecognizable front door, and all three of them were misleadingly holding _no_ weapons in their hands. Sai's hand itched to reach for his _tanto_, and the only thing that had prevented him from doing so was the tiny possibility that these people could actually be people from Gifu. For all he could know, this could be some colony politics he'd hate to get involved with.

Or maybe not.

Noa pounced on the nearest man, jumping onto his shoulders and starting a very hissy, very violent scratch attack. If Noa was like this towards them, then it did not take a genius to tell they were not here bearing good intentions.

One of the men yanked Noa from their comrade, and effortlessly tossed her over his shoulder. Sai's hand was on his weapon, and Noa suddenly screamed, "Don't you dare pull that out! Go! Just go!"

Sai cursed under his breath.

"We have the healer," Sai heard one of the men say over the loud rumbling and screaming from the outside.

And Sai immediately knew what was going on; these men had come for Gifu's healer. They had mistaken Noa for Sakura.

And that moment started a war in Sai. In that split second, he found the opportunity. Let the men take Noa. The girl was pretty much a healer herself, and Sakura would not be bothered by these men again.

And that split second ended.

His tanto was in his hand, and the man holding Noa was on the floor with his throat neatly slit.

Sai thought the two men who were unarmed would run, but another surprise came in the form of one of the remaining kidnappers ripping his veil to reveal his face. A few familiar hand signs and an overwhelming gust of wind blew from his open mouth, so strong that the surrounding furniture was blown away through the hole of the second floor.

Sai dove to the floor, barely avoiding the shocking _fuuton_ attack from the enemy.

Noa had come out of nowhere and was at his side, looking absolutely horrified. "Have you no idea what you've just done? _You've killed with your hands!"_

In honesty, Sai did not feel the least bit sorry – or affected – for and by this fact. He had killed many people before. It mattered little, if at all, that a man now lay lifeless in the clinic because of him. The only thing that mattered right now was to get the scrolls to Sakura and make sure that she would be okay. He could not fit the part why he had to save Noa when he could have just conveniently left her to be whisked away by those men, who had somehow managed to escape in the frenzy of smoke and fire they had caused themselves.

Sai looked over his shoulder. The Healer's house was made mostly of rock and clay, and the things that had caught fire inside it were mostly the wooden cabinets and the rest of the furniture that had not been completely destroyed by falling debris. Finding a way out was not hard, and Sai had his arm around Noa's waist and hoisted her against his hip. He was grateful she was so small that it was like tucking a sack of potatoes under his arm.

"We're getting out of here. Make sure you don't inhale too much of the smoke," Sai told her. For once, she did not protest, and instead had the sleeve of her robes pressed against her nose and mouth.

Now all Sai had to do was find a place to stuff Noa in to keep her safe, and find the two men who had escaped him. There was also the possibility that there were more of them around. He hoped Neji and Tenten had not wandered far from the colony and that Lee had been successful in taking Sakura away.

He hoped even more that Lee was keeping his hands to himself.

Sai frowned. This was not the time for that. There were a lot of questions he wanted to ask Noa. She will have him explain why _fuuton_-using shinobi had invaded a colony of pacifists to get their hands on a healer.

* * *

"Let me go! Let me go, Neji, _dammit!"_

"Not until you promise you won't run back there after I do," Neji said as he struggled into cornering Tenten against a boulder and pinning both of her wrists over her head with one hand. They had barely made it to the desert basin when the explosions wracked the sand below their feet, and the next thing they knew, the colony was in flames.

Tenten stared back at him in distaste. "You just stood there. You watched it happen right before your eyes! How could you?" She tried to kick him when he used his free hand to knock the scrolls she had hidden in her robes.

Two small scrolls fell at their feet and Neji kicked them away. "There wasn't anything I could do. Now, if you want to go back to the colony after this is over, you will abandon the idea of unsealing your weapons from your scrolls and wait until everything's settled down."

"Oh, god! You don't know how much I want to punch you right now!" Tenten hissed through gritted teeth and she tried to knee him again.

"Believe me, I know." Neji used his leg to pin her lower body down; as much as he hated to admit that it made him uncomfortable manhandling Tenten like this. This was probably the only hand-to-hand combat he's had with the Weapons Mistress, and he was not liking it.

"You knew this was going to happen, didn't you? Yeah, that makes sense! You and Sai knew there were suspicious-looking people hanging around the colony, but you didn't do anything about it. You just waited until they attacked." Tenten shifted violently to the side and Neji felt her upper body press against his chest in a way that was just too inappropriate for a Hyuuga male to even experience before marriage.

Neji used his free hand to push her against the boulder by her upper arm and he moved back, slightly embarrassed. "What are you talking about? Do you really take me to be that heartless? I didn't do anything because there was nothing I could do to prevent this. And believe me, I tried."

That last sentence seemed to catch her attention. "You tried?" she spat. "What did you _try_ to do to stop this?"

"I told Tomona about them, about the group circling the colony. I told them that they might not be friendly people."

Tenten's eyes widened as she finally stared Neji straight in the eye. "And what did they say?" she asked weakly.

"You know the people here. They said _'everyone is friends in Gifu,'_ and he told me to have some wine. Sakura's already warned you about this, hasn't she? These people are pacifists to the extreme. They don't believe violence exists, and whenever they're surrounded by it, they pretend it's not there. They deny _anything_ they don't want to believe. How can you warn people like that? You _can't_."

Tenten sagged against the boulder behind her and her chin lolled down to her chest. "Did you know this was going to happen, Neji?"

Neji sighed. "I had my suspicions. When I showed you the group earlier, I wasn't expecting they would attack tonight. Truth be told, I wanted to scout around a little closer while everyone in the colony is too busy with the festival. To see if they were after us, or just people having to do with Gifu itself."

Tenten raised her head weakly, those chocolate eyes looking at him accusingly. "So if it had nothing to do with us, you were just planning to turn away from these people?"

"It isn't our problem to handle. Do you honestly think that if we kill their enemies, Gifu would gladly thank you afterwards? Don't be silly. They follow a certain teaching that forbids them to use their hands to hold weapons and to hurt. They hate violence even if it's necessary to save their lives. There's nothing we can do here," Neji said. "Now I'm going to release your wrists now. Please don't do anything rash."

Tenten nodded and she quickly hopped on top of the boulder the moment Neji freed her. She was looking out into the direction of the colony. Neji climbed up beside her and saw some of the houses in the outer clearing were burning. What surprised him the most was that explosions still kept sounding off in the distance, but none of them were coming from Gifu. Activating his _Byakugan_, Neji scanned the parameter. And that was when he saw them.

The caravans the suspicious group brought with them were hidden in a rock formation a few kilometers away from the colony. He could see them. Five, six, seven men.

And were they using… _ninjutsu?_

_Who are these people?_

He saw as one of those seven men make a familiar sign before slamming both hands into the sand before him. An explosion erupted a few feet from the west of Gifu, enough to rattle anyone within the colony.

_Doton?_

Neji's eyes widened at the sudden realization. _They're not here to invade. They're here for something else. But what?_ If they were here for any other hostile intent on the colony, Neji had no doubts that those men had more than enough power to take over a colony this small in a matter of minutes. But instead they have men kilometers away, creating diversions as if…

_As if they want to scare the people out of their colony. _

The number of houses on fire was not increasing, and so Neji was pretty sure he was right. But then, what would they want? Surely Gifu would not have anything valuable to offer?

Neji looked down at his feet when he felt something brush his ankle. Tenten seemed to notice it, too.

There, looking up at both of them was one of Sai's ink mice. Not wasting any time, Tenten slipped an empty scroll from her robes and unrolled it immediately. The rat gave a quiet squeak before jumping into the paper.

"A message," Tenten gasped and Neji huddled closer to her.

The message was short. _'We are safe. Healer is targeted. Rally at D. basin ASAP.'_

Tenten gasped. "They're after Sakura?"

Neji frowned deeply as he returned his gaze back down at the colony. Whatever reasons there could be behind them wanting Sakura, he doubted it had anything related to Danzo. He didn't even know if he should be grateful for that. Admittedly, although he had tried hard to put a cool face in front of Tenten when it came to the people of the colony, he was genuinely relieved to know that this little invasion had nothing to do with them personally. If they were lucky, the casualties wouldn't be that bad.

Neji took in a deep breath and released it in a huff.

Tenten looked up at him. "I hope Sakura's okay."

"I wouldn't be worried."

"Why?"

"Don't forget, Sakura is with two men who would be more than willing to offer their lives if it meant saving her."

* * *

Lee knew Sakura very well, since he had spent his _Genin_ days and the earlier parts of his _Chuunin_ days fantasizing about her. He did not know what he had seen in her that made him like her so much, but he had abandoned those feelings before it grew into something. Tenten had teased him more than a few times that he hadn't really been sincere about her.

This was not true.

He had met her at the beginning of the _Chuunin_ exams, and before those exams were finished, one thing led to another, with Gaara going wild, his operation and Sasuke disappearing, there was just no time to pursue romance. He did not complain. Ninja never complained. And he had tried twice as hard as everyone else to be a ninja when given orders.

He did not have orders now, though. And now that even _he_ had started questioning his allegiance with the Leaf ever since the change of regime, he could not help but linger on the fact that he still thought Sakura was pretty, and he was holding her over his shoulder as he wove through the parts of the colony that still remained in tact, miraculously avoiding running into anyone.

The fact that this part of the colony was deserted meant that everyone had already gathered in the clearing at the opposite side of the village.

He felt Sakura stir and he stopped to gently put her down on one of the small boulders to the side of the path.

Sakura's head lolled backward as she opened her eyes slowly. Lee looked down at her nervously, afraid of what she was going to do to him when she realized that it was _he _who had knocked her unconscious earlier.

She pressed a hand at the back of her neck and pushed against Lee's chest with the intent to stand. She fell back sitting and she turned to Lee. "Where are we? Where is everyone?"

Lee had to answer her truthfully, because he knew he owed her this much. "Sai had gone off to scout the colony with Noa. He assigned me to keep you safe because it seems like there are people who wish to take you away."

Sakura shook her head roughly, as if frustrated. "No, no. I meant the people. Tomona, the elders, _Riho and Valu!_ Are they safe? Are they all right? Did they get away?"

Words failed Lee then. He could not help but feel a bit guilty of having thought Sai's orders to be the most logical; they had to let the colony play how it should play without them meddling in their affairs, however inhumane it may sound…

Sakura tried to stand again on wobbly legs and she staggered forward, as if to dash towards the clearing on the other side of the colony where she knew the people had started gathering for the celebration before the attack. Lee stopped her.

"I do not think it is wise to go back there, Sakura." Lee said, stepping in her way. "As much as I hate it, Sai is right."

She looked quite distraught and for a moment Lee felt guilty for having knocked her on the back of the head when she was unaware.

"Lee, you know that we should be going the other way, instead," Sakura pleaded and it did not take much of those big green eyes to make him look away. She grabbed the front of his suit and shook him roughly. "Let's go back. There are women and children there, Lee. _Women and children!_ The men can't – won't – do anything about it. If we don't go back, they'll die."

The words Noa said to them earlier echoed in Lee's head, and that in itself strengthened his resolve. He gripped her wrists gently and shook his head. "What Sai said was right. We cannot do anything without exposing ourselves. That is one thing Ninja cannot do. And the only way to do that is to run. Not fight. _Run._ Those who attacked the colony wanted the Healer." He narrowed his eyes. "I cannot let them have you."

It was Sakura's turn to shake her head, in disbelief or in frustration, Lee didn't know. "Listen to yourself, Lee. You're turning away from what you know is right just to live up to the cookie cutter that defines what a Ninja is." She moved as if to dash back towards the burning clearing. Lee grabbed her wrist forcefully. She was not happy with it. "Let me go!"

"No. It's too dangerous."

"Do I look like I can't handle this?" she asked. She could have been convincing if her knees did not evidently buckle underneath her, and Lee had to support her by the upper arm to keep her from falling over.

He knew she was not doing well. He of all people would know she hadn't been herself (he would know because he always found himself looking at Sakura unnecessarily) since Team Gai had found her in Gifu, playing this weird game of husband and wife. He did not even know if it was because of that game that she was this weak. He hoped to the heavens that Sai hadn't been doing lewd things to her.

Lee sighed. "Very well."

Sakura looked up at him, eyes once again wide and in slight disbelief at what he had just said. "You… you're letting me go back?"

"Only if we go back together. And only if you promise you will let me handle everything if ever anything goes wrong."

Sakura had to think about it for a few seconds before finally realizing that Lee would not go if she didn't agree to his terms. "Fine. Fine, let's just go." She gave him a tentative look.

Lee's grip on her upper arm tightened and he added, "One more thing; you will not use your hands – _in any way whatsoever_ – except to tend to anyone who needs healing. Is that clear? That means you will not use _this_." He elbowed her lightly on her side, and the kunai Sai had handed her earlier fell from her sleeve. He caught it and slipped it swiftly within the weights of his right leg.

Sakura did not even flinch. "I get it. Come on then."

And Lee nearly fell over when he felt Sakura grab his hand and dragged him away towards the clearing.

Lee had always known Sakura to be hotheaded when it came to things concerning the wounded, but this was just one of those times when he could not agree whole-heartedly with her decision to ignore Sai's orders completely and risk getting involved in an attack that was meant for her.

"I don't even understand why we have to hide when we can take these invaders head on without breaking a sweat," Sakura muttered loudly.

Lee sighed as he let himself get dragged slowly by the arm. "That is what I have been trying to explain to you. Though we can engage the enemy in battle and most likely win, we _must not_. We must act as if we were never here."

Sakura looked over her shoulder and gave him a very disapproving look. "Didn't you hear what Noa said earlier? They're here because of me. We can't pretend we were _'never here'_, because if we never _were _here, they wouldn't have come in the first place. I can't just pretend this isn't my job, because it is." She looked ahead, that determined look before a battle that he had seen many times once again on her face. "A healer's job is to save lives. I don't have to wait for them to get wounded or come close to dying before I do that."

"Sakura – "

Sakura whirled around and stood in her place, looking at Lee with serious green eyes. Her arms were dangling loosely at her sides, those hands clenching at her skirt angrily. "I can't turn away from these people. Naruto would never forgive me if I did." And she turned on her heel and dashed off towards the burning clearing.

And who was Lee to argue when she had put it that way? She was right. Uzumaki Naruto would have done everything in his power to save as much people as he could.

But there was one problem.

Haruno Sakura was not Uzumaki Naruto.

* * *

Naruto felt his eyes water after sneezing and he hurriedly wiped his nose with the back of his hand. Now it was either the rain was finally getting to him, or someone was talking about him somewhere. Sniffing loudly, he dashed through the narrow alleys of the Hidden Rain village, trying very hard to keep the brown paper bag full of meat buns safe under his slicker. He had heard about the meat bun shop from Konan who, through her paper angels scattered all over the village, learned how the pervy sage had stopped to eat there when he first infiltrated the Rain. After hearing this, he just couldn't stop himself from getting some for everyone.

Hopping over a puddle and then darting a sharp right into the alley he discovered to be the fastest way back to Konan's tower, he hoped he made it back before it rained.

And just his luck, the rain just suddenly crashed down on the village in sheets the moment he took his first step inside the first floor of the darkly lit tower.

Naruto pushed the hood of his slicker off his head and shook his blonde head briskly. "That was close," he muttered to himself as he brushed the bangs matted on his forehead. "If I had been a minute late – whoa!"

The words were ripped out of him when he felt something huge and furry tackle him from behind. He laughed and held the bag of meat buns away from Akamaru as the dog licked at his face with a very big and very wet tongue. "Heel! Heel, boy! Kiba! Get him off! He'll get the meat buns wet!"

Kiba came jogging from the other side of the room where they had the clothesline set up for that day's laundry. The Inuzuka had a basket under one arm, and a very ugly scowl on his face. "There's enough for everyone, boy. Let him up."

Akamaru whined pitifully before he removed his huge frame off of the blonde. Naruto shot Kiba a grateful look. "Thanks."

Kiba was sniffing the air around him, too. "Those smell great. Hand it over."

Naruto pushed himself into a sitting position and opened the paper bag quickly. The heavenly aroma of those meat buns wafted out and Akamaru let out an appreciative howl. Naruto held the paper bag out to Kiba, who put down the basket he was holding and gingerly plucked two buns from them.

Kiba juggled them from hand to hand. "Whooh, these are hot."

Naruto grinned, quite satisfied with himself. "And aren't they the biggest meat buns you've ever seen?"

Kiba nodded in agreement as he placed one of the buns on the floor for Akamaru. The nin dog happily gulped it down without even bothering to chew. After licking his chops clean, he sauntered away in a corner, circled a spot two times before curling into himself to sleep.

"Where are the others?" Naruto asked. "It'd be better to eat these while they're still warm."

Kiba sunk his fangs into the bun happily and answered Naruto in between chews. "Shino went to town to get some more oil for our kunai. He's been complaining about rust lately. And dry-but-not-quite-dry underwear."

Naruto laughed loudly. "Yeah I know what he means by that. This rain just makes everything feel weird. Wouldn't it be interesting if we suddenly grew molds?"

"That'd be gross," Kiba said, but laughed anyway as he took another bite of the bun. "Anyway, Konan is up there, meditating, I think. As usual, I dunno how Tsunade-sama is because she only lets the girls in. And Hinata's been gone since morning."

"Oh, I see." It was a shame they would have to eat their meat buns cold, but since everyone seemed to be too engaged in their own activities and Naruto knew it too well never to stick your nose into someone's private time, he stood up and brushed his bottom with one hand. He went straight for the circle of sleeping bags around a small stone hearth where they had established their camp. He put down the paper bag half a foot away from the fire. "I guess I'll just leave these near here so it doesn't get too cold, then."

Kiba had, by now, devoured his food and was now licking his fingers lazily. "Sure, but if Akamaru gets his paws on those, don't look at me though."

Naruto immediately grabbed the paper bag back and shot Kiba a disapproving look. "Everyone gets a meat bun, okay?"

Kiba stood from his place and picked up his basket. "Look, if it means that much to you, I'm on my way upstairs so I can give Konan her share and ask her to give Tsunade-sama hers. Shino'll be back soon, so I'll keep one here safe with me." The Inuzuka studied Naruto with those sharp eyes of his, and after a moment flashed him an equally sharp-toothed smile. "Hinata's just around back. Maybe you should ask her to come out of the rain and eat."

Naruto frowned at Kiba. This wasn't a plan to get the meat buns for himself, was it? "You'd better not be lying." He approached Kiba and placed the paper bag in his basket. "I'm taking three of these, so there are three more left in the bag. Don't you dare touch them."

Kiba bared his fangs at him. "Well, you're being a hypocrite. If you're getting one bun and Hinata gets one too, why are you taking _three_ buns from the bag?"

Naruto grinned as she started to walk away, buns safely in his hands. "This one's for the pervy sage," he said over his shoulder. He could hear Kiba snorting loudly, but he did not say anything about it.

The urn that contained Jiraiya's ashes was on a small iron stand in the corner of the room right under a skylight. It was bathed in the dreary dark-blue hue coming from outside. Around the iron stand were thousands of small paper flowers from Konan, and three lit candles at the foot of the stand as an offering from the members of Team Eight.

Naruto knelt in front of the make-shift altar and gently pushed a few paper flowers aside. Smiling sadly, he sat one of the meat buns in front of the urn. He wiped his nose with the thumb of his free hand and said, "I've been here in the rain for so long now, but I haven't seen a single woman prettier than Granny Tsunade. Those days you've spent here must have bored you to death, huh?" He used his sleeve to brush away a few specks of dust on the urn, then sat back down on the heels of his feet. "Sorry you have to wait this long. I promise we'll be home soon, and then you can rest peacefully. After all, the girls are always prettiest in Konoha."

Balancing the two meat buns in one hand, he gave the urn a final wave before setting out to the narrow alley that led to the back of the tower. It was ironic to have found a second home in Ame that had so much iron and metal and rain that was so very much different from Konoha, but Naruto was glad that this was where they had found shelter. The people were nice, and the meat buns were wonderful.

The back of the tower opened up to a relatively large water hole. Konan said that it was connected to the river cutting across the village that directly opened up to the lake. Sometimes the water level would rise when it rained but there was nothing to worry about.

Afraid to startle the Hyuuga, because he had noticed Hinata got startled by anything (but he didn't know she got startled with anything that concerned _just him_), Naruto decided to call out first to announce his presence.

"Hinata! I got food!" Naruto said loudly over the sound of the heavy pitter-patter of the rain as he followed the alley out to the water hole. He paused just by the exit. He could hear movement on top of the water, so he was almost positive Hinata was training. Peeking slowly through the side of the exit, he nearly dropped the meat buns at the sight that beheld him.

Hinata was oblivious of the rain.

And she was _dancing_. Or at least she looked like she was. The first thing he noticed were the arms swaying to some music Naruto couldn't hear, and that was because it was the first time he saw her without her bulky jacket. Those arms were usually covered with long sleeves even when warm. But now the jacket was gone and she had but a mesh shirt that left her slender arms exposed.

And her chest.

Naruto felt his face heat up and quickly shook himself, willing his eyes not to stare. He had had enough punches from Sakura for even the tiniest hints of perversion, and had indeed learned his lesson many times when he had been hanging around Jiraiya during the two years of his training. How many times had Jiraiya been hit by flying objects when caught peeping at girls in public baths? And how many times had _he_ been hit along with his pervert of a teacher?

Having said that, he still couldn't keep his eyes away. He was well aware of the Hyuuga fighting style, and had even battled with Neji once before and he knew how graceful they could be. He had seen Hinata fight a number of times before as well.

But _this_… this was different.

The way her bare feet skipped and leapt on top of the water, hardly creating ripples, the way her wet, long hair whipped over her shoulders as she turned and swayed, and the way her head tilted elegantly to one side as she twirled, one could have thought she was _luring _something to her.

Naruto didn't even realize he had lowered himself on the ground, crossed his legs in front of him and left the meat buns on each of his knees. The girl was now dipping low to one side, her fingers grazing the water and pulling it over her head like some ribbon. Was she using her chakra on the water? It was beautiful! It nearly took Naruto's breath away when he watched her use both her hands to scoop up more water in her palms and turn full circle, the water erupting around her like a halo of liquid. How come Hinata never told him she could move like that?

Hinata made another turn.

And her eyes met his.

She let out a strangled gasp, stumbled and fell heavily into the water, creating a great big splash as she disappeared in the water hole. Her head bobbed over the surface soon after and she was coughing violently.

Naruto was on his feet worriedly. "Are you okay?" he called.

Regaining her hold on her chakra, Hinata nodded weakly as she hurriedly climbed back on the surface of the water, brushing back the long strands of hair that had plastered itself on her face. "Na-naruto! How long have you been there?" she asked over the noise of the rain.

Naruto held out the meat buns on each hand. "I just got here. I come bearing gifts! Get out of the rain for a minute!"

Hinata looked lost for a few seconds, and as if suddenly becoming aware that she did not have her jacket on, hurriedly wrapped her arms around her but nonetheless hopped out of the water and slowly made her way towards him. Her face was turning into a dark shade of red. Naruto hoped she wasn't coming down with a fever.

When Hinata stepped out of the rain, she pulled her long hair over one shoulder and started squeezing the water out of it. She would not meet his eye.

"You looked really good out there," Naruto started, holding out one of the meat buns to her. "Was that, like, some sort of Hyuuga dance or something?"

Hinata's pale eyes shifted everywhere but Naruto's face, and she smiled weakly as she let her hair hang over that one shoulder. "Ah… no. I-It's how I practice chakra control… m-moving water here and there…"

"Yeah? Well. It looked pretty neat. You looked nice out there."

"Tha-tha-thank you!" Hinata said breathlessly as she reached out to take the bun from him.

"Wait! Your hands are wet. You should wipe it first or you'd ruin the meat bun experience," he told her.

"Meat bun… experience?" Hinata repeated, now looking quit unsure of what to do with her outstretched hands.

Naruto looked around helplessly, hoping to at least find a towel she had prepared beforehand. There were no towels anywhere. He frowned, then puffed out his chest at her comically. "You can wipe your hands on my jacket! I wouldn't mind."

Hinata took a step back, looking absolutely frightened. Her face color turned from bright red to a sickening purple. "Y-y-y-y-your jacket? I… I _couldn't!"_

"It's clean," Naruto said defensively. "You washed it for me yesterday, remember?"

As if his comment had frightened her even more, she pressed her hands to her face. "I…!"

"Aww, come on. You should really hurry if you want to eat them while they're warm," Naruto coaxed as he took a step towards her. "C'mon. Dry those hands."

Hinata looked like she was thinking very hard, then after a few moments of what seemed to be a life-changing decision, she stretched her arms out gently to pat her hands on his chest. "E-excuse me, then…"

Naruto smiled down at her as he watched her wipe her fingers gingerly on his jacket. He laughed a bit. "You have tiny hands."

The Hyuuga instantly withdrew her hands and curled them under her chin. "Do I?"

"Yeah," he handed her the meat bun, and she took it into both her hands, like a child.

She blinked down at it, then smiled her shy smile. "They're warm." She pressed it against her cheek, closed her eyes and sighed. "And they smell so good. Thank you."

"It's no problem. I didn't want to interrupt your training but Kiba said Akamaru might eat your share if I don't give it to you now." He settled down on the floor again and sunk his teeth into his food. He rolled his eyes back in appreciation. "Good stuff. Not as good as Ichiraku, but it'll do."

Hinata looked down at him curiously before settling down on her knees a few feet away from him, tucking her legs under her. She took a bite of her own bun and nodded. "It _is _good. Where do they sell these?"

"At a small meat bun shop at the outskirts. They're really cheap, too. Had I known it would be so popular, I'd have bought more. We should get some again tomorrow if doesn't rain."

Hinata nodded quietly, busying herself with her food.

Naruto devoured his in two more bites and chewed contentedly. He looked down at Hinata. "You should really get out of those wet clothes or you'll catch cold."

Hinata returned his gaze, the paleness of her eyes emphasizing her eyelashes Naruto didn't know were that thick. "I-I'm going back to training after I eat. I'll be along in an hour or so to p-prepare dinner for Tsunade-sama."

Naruto gestured at her with a hand. "Man, you don't know how grateful I am that you're here. I wouldn't have been able to cook if my life depended on it, and Granny needs all the help she could get to get better."

Hinata blushed again. He wondered why she was always so embarrassed. Or was it just him? "I'm glad," she started, "that I'm of use to you. Tsunade-sama is getting a lot better. She doesn't talk much about anything to me, but whenever I check her chakra, it's flowing smoother than before."

Naruto nodded happily. "That's good to hear. The faster she gets well, the better. It's not that I don't like it here. Konan's been great and all, but I can't wait to go home."

The startled look on Hinata's face was evident.

"What's wrong? You want to go home and see your family too, right?" Naruto asked.

The Hyuuga nibbled at her meat bun thoughtfully, then after hesitating, she asked, "Do you think we would be able to go home?"

"What are you talking about? Of _course_ we'll be able to go home!" Naruto pounded on his chest confidently. "Just you wait. It won't be long now."

Hinata did not look too convinced, and if anything she looked sad. The hands holding the half-eaten meat bun lowered to her lap. "But Danzo is there."

Naruto snorted. "Danzo or no Danzo, Konoha will always be Konoha. Our _home_. We'll just ask the old man to step down and let granny sit on her _Hokage_ throne and everything will be back to normal."

Hinata cast him a dubious look. "I'm sorry to say this, Naruto, but I don't think we would be able to win back Konoha by _asking_ Danzo."

Naruto shrugged. "We wouldn't know until we tried. If talking to him doesn't do the job, we could always do it the easy way."

Hinata was interested. "The easy way?"

"Beat him into a bloody pulp," Naruto said matter-of-factly.

Hinata stared at him, wide-eyed. After a moment, she burst out laughing.

Naruto couldn't help but laugh with her. He didn't even know how long they were laughing, but they found themselves catching their breath and sides hurting that they had to stop.

The silence that followed their laughter was long, and it was broken by Hinata touching his knee tentatively with the hand that was not holding her meat bun.

"You are amazing," she said softly.

Naruto scratched the back of his neck, embarrassed. He didn't know how to take Hinata's compliment, and he didn't know why that hand on his knee bothered him.

"We can't expect anything less from the Hero of Konoha, I suppose." She lowered her eyes to the ground, then added, "As expected from that person who I have been trying so hard to reach ever since I was a child. In the end, I could never walk alongside you. You're just so hard to run after."

"Hinata…" Naruto started, not know what to say to that. The hand on his knee felt warm against his pant leg. Swallowing hard, he laughed loudly. "What are you talking about? You were amazing back then!"

Hinata's pale eyes were trained on his face, and Naruto thought that she looked… _different_. Confident. "Back when, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto gestured with his hands awkwardly. "Back then. You know, when you stood up to Paine to help me! You were great!" Well, given that he did not remember what had happened _after_ he saw Hinata practically get killed by Paine then… but he was telling the truth when he thought she was great. He had been worried and scared stiff for her, but…

The hand on his knee twitched a little and Naruto swallowed.

"I couldn't have done it if it weren't for you," she said so quietly that Naruto had to lean forward a bit to actually hear her.

She bit her lip nervously, and Naruto saw she was holding the bun so tight in that one hand that the meat inside had started to spill out onto her fingers. She didn't seem to mind. There was a serious look on her face that Naruto had seldom seen before.

"So you _do _remember that day," Hinata said sadly.

Naruto laughed nervously. He had always complained to himself when Hinata stuttered when he was around. Now that she wasn't stuttering, he discovered that it was making him even more uneasy. "That day Paine invaded the Leaf? I don't think anyone could forget that day." Trying to lighten the mood that had suddenly felt so heavy around them, he reached out and patted her shoulder lightly. "We should team up more, you know. Then maybe you can show off some more of that hidden fighting prowess."

"You know I'm not very good when it comes to those kinds of things." She smiled shyly. "It was because you were in danger that I did it. They said I was careless."

Naruto shook his head. He wasn't one to say anything about carelessness, since he, too, used his gut instead of his brain more often than not. "Sometimes, there's just no time to think things through. You have to just, you know, _do it_."

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata suddenly asked.

"Yeah?"

"You heard what I said then, right? I was there in front of you so I doubt you didn't hear it. Do you remember what I said at that time?"

Naruto watched her face, those white eyes were steadily looking straight to his blue ones. Was she asking if he remembered what she had said to _Paine_ then? Man, he had been too scared silly for her safety to even care at the time. That much, he knew. But now that she asked, yeah, he vaguely remembered her saying a few things.

She had appeared out of nowhere when he had specifically told everyone not to butt in. But there she was, in all her Hyuuga glory.

"_I was always chasing you. Wanting to overtake you. But I just really wanted to walk with you, to be with you."_

Naruto swallowed hard as the hand on his knee twitched again, and there was an expectant look on her face.

"_You changed me. Your smile saved me." _

Naruto felt as if that day came back to him crashing like a giant wave. He had to remind himself to suck in a breath as it all came back to him.

"_So I'm not afraid to die protecting you… because… I love you…"_

Naruto felt the memory explode in his mind and he felt himself panting at the sudden remembrance of that confession. He didn't even know what to do next. Breathing was hard enough as it was.

"You… _remember_, right?" she asked slowly, the confidence she had was slowly dwindling, and the hand she had on his knee gingerly withdrew. She covered her mouth with it, as if she had to do so to keep herself from saying anything more.

It had been a confession. During one of the hardest battles he had ever faced before. And he had forgotten everything after that when he knew the _kyuubi_ had taken over.

Naruto was not used to love confessions. He had been shunned and hated all his life that hearing people say they _'loved' _him was an all new different experience in itself. But then again, this was Hinata. She had always been there, always in the corner of his eye, but then she would disappear when he thought of saying hello. And when he did catch up on her, she would either faint or simply freeze altogether and stutter random words at him. He had always thought she was weird that way, and he kind of _liked_ that kind of weird.

But never in his life did he think she would _'like' _like him.

He watched her lower her eyes to the meat bun in her hand. What were people supposed to answer to love confessions made in the middle of a battle? What did Hinata want him to say?

"You don't have to think about it this much, really," she suddenly said, and she finished her meat bun in two huge bites. She started chewing leisurely, keeping her eyes downcast. It was a good excuse not to talk.

Naruto started to panic. Was it his job to talk to fill in the silence? He groped for words in his mind, and it was like trying to catch fish with an exploding kunai. After a few seconds of much thinking, he sat up straighter, folding his legs under him, and placing his hands on his lap.

"That was my first-ever confession. No one's ever told me those words before. I mean, from a girl, you know. And, well… It's not that I'm… err… _ignorant_… about how the dating thing goes usually… but, yeah, I don't hate you and all that… so… " This has got to be the most uncomfortable feeling. _Ever_.

Hinata had busied herself with twiddling her thumbs. She was still not looking at him.

"Err… yeah… So, well, the proper order of things – and this is all based on pure, you know, research and books and all that – when someone confesses to someone, and that someone doesn't hate that person who confessed… well… " he was starting to confuse himself. He ran a hand through his hair nervously. He might as well just ask it. "Do you want to go out with me, then?"

Hinata's thumb twiddling stopped, but if anything she lowered her head even further down, covering her eyes with her bangs entirely.

Naruto watched her silently, his hands twitching on his lap. After waiting for what seemed like forever, Hinata finally raised her head to look at him. Her face was tomato red, even her ears.

"D-d-do you think… do you think we should?" she asked meekly, and the corners of her mouth turning up, then down slightly.

Naruto scratched his chin roughly. "Well… do you want to?" he asked slowly.

Hinata started twiddling her thumbs again, and she turned her head away, her pale eyes looking out into the rain. A minute passed. Two minutes.

Ten minutes and an eternity later, in which Naruto had finally lost feeling on his legs from sitting so long in one position, Hinata returned her gaze back at him.

And nodded. "Yes," she squeaked, then ducked her head back down.

He nodded. "Okay."

Naruto blinked once, twice. "So… "

"Hm?"

"That makes you… my girlfriend, right?"

Hinata nodded. "I think so."

"Okay."

And they were silent.

Contrary to what Jiraiya-sensei said about getting a girlfriend, no angels appeared and no harps sounded from a distance. And contrary to what Jiraiya sensei had taught him, no, he did not get urges to rip the girl's clothes off the moment they come to an agreement. In fact, the thought made him so uncomfortable that he was grateful when he felt the ground shake from under him.

Hinata was immediately on her feet and was in that Hyuuga fighting stance in a heartbeat. "What was that? An earthquake?"

Getting up on wobbly legs himself, Naruto widened his stance to keep his balance when he felt another tremor rock the earth again. "An enemy?" he suggested.

He narrowed his eyes as he peered down the alley that led back to Konan's tower. The tremor rocked the earth as if Chouji had used his expansion _jutsu_ and was now taking a stroll around the village. "Is it just me, or is something headed this way?"

Hinata instantly activated her _Byakugan_. Then, after a few seconds, she gasped happily. "Oh, my God! Naruto, in the tower!" She looked over to him with such ecstatic eyes that Naruto could only think of one thing in mind.

"Is it…?"

The awkwardness of their conversation earlier completely forgotten, Naruto grabbed Hinata's hand and they both ran like crazy through the alley and into the darkness of the tower. Kiba was standing in the corner, his basket abandoned to the side. Konan and Akamaru were with him, and all three of them were looking over to the corner, right under the skylight.

There, right in front of Jiraiya-sensei's urn, was a kneeling Tsunade, her back to them, that familiar green _happi _with the mark _'gamble' _boldly printed on it facing them proudly.

Hinata had both her hands in her face, and a few tears were pouring down her face. "Tsunade-sama!"

Naruto didn't know if he should call out to her, because right now, he was speechless. Out of relief, or out of annoyance he didn't know. Because when Tsunade looked over to look at them, her face restored to its former beauty, the greatly missed rhombus once again seen stark on her forehead, Naruto saw she was eating a meat bun.

"You!" He pointed at her in disbelief. "You're eating pervy sage's offering, aren't you?"

Tsunade finished the bun, licked her fingers in satisfaction, reached for the urn and hugged it to her chest lovingly. The smirk on his face that Naruto missed so much was back.

"Don't be stingy. I'm sure he wouldn't mind, the old bastard. People who break promises don't deserve meat buns. I'll hate him forever for dying on me… " Tsunade looked down lovingly at the urn, and if it hadn't been for the watery eyes and the shaky shoulders, Naruto wouldn't have thought her kidding.

"Now, bring me some _sake._"

* * *

It looked like the three men Sai and Noa had encountered earlier were the only intruders that came into the village. After dashing through the colony and discovering that the fires were mostly contained in the clearing and the radius around the Healer's house, Sai was confused because he swore he'd heard more explosions than the fires suggested there were.

"I told you so, I told you so," Noa said as she stalked behind him as they made their way through the empty path that led to the clearing. "But did you listen? _Nooo! _Don't listen to Noa. Noa doesn't know anything."

If Sai weren't Sai, he would have turned around, grabbed the girl around the neck and wrung the life out of her. Lucky for the girl, it was not easy to get into his bad side. "No, Noa. Actually, you _didn't _tell me. After we've confirmed if anyone was hurt in that weird… _happening_, you will sit down with me and we will have a talk. A long one."

Noa snorted. "You won't find them here. They've scattered."

Sai whirled around to face her. "What? Everyone?"

Noa fell silent, as if concentrating hard. She did a few turns in her place, then nodded, still looking out into the distance. "That's the only thing they can do. _Run_."

"It's better than dying," Sai said and he resumed their walk towards the village clearing. "Can you tell if everyone's safe?"

Noa shook her head. "I can sense them in groups of threes and fours, but I can't tell if that's everyone. Once the fires die out, I'm sure they'll come back." She sniffed timidly. "They have nowhere else to go."

Taking out a scroll from his backpack, he had several more mice scattering away to the direction of the desert basin where he had confirmed Neji and Tenten were. They needed all the help they could get to put the fires out.

By the time they had finally made it to the outskirts of the clearing, Sai had expected the worst. The remainder of what could have been a great party was now scattered in the melting snow, darkened by the ashes coming from the burning houses nearby. Food and decorations were ruthlessly torn down onto the ground, and Sai could see the footprints of the many people who had gathered there before the attack. Those footprints had undoubtedly split into many different directions, running away from the danger.

But there was one thing wrong. Sai could tell the moment they got closer.

Noa made to enter the clearing, he stopped her. "You stay here."

Noa raised an eyebrow at him. "Why? It's obvious no one's there. I don't feel a presence."

Sai stared down at her seriously. "You will stay here. You will not step into the clearing. You will not _look_ into the clearing. Do you hear me?"

Noa watched him with those eyes, as if she was trying to read what he was feeling. She then looked over her shoulder, as if thinking what to do. When Sai was sure the Noa girl was not going to follow him, he immediately entered the devastated place cautiously. He did not even have to bother looking around; he trusted Noa that no one _alive _was there. But he could practically _smell _it in the air. He had grown up to that smell. And although he had been so used to it since he was a child, having to smell it in this place that was supposed to be a place of pacifists was slightly… disturbing.

It was blood.

And it did not take him too long to find the body.

It was lying spread-eagle on the snow-covered ground near a few barrels of plum. There was a clean cut across the throat, blood seeping out of the wound and bathing the snow around it a bright red. In one of its hands was a small knife, the stiff fingers still gripping at the weapon desperately. He looked around the ground beside the body, and he could immediately tell there had been three men who had cornered her. Holding a weapon, she must have been the best target…

Sai knelt down beside the body, and as he stared down at the still open grey eyes, then at the white-blonde hair tinted with red, he felt a quick jabbing pain to the left of his chest. Reaching out his hand, he closed her dead eyes for her and thanked the heavens that he was lucky enough that Sakura was not with him right now.

"Sai?" came a voice from behind him.

Sai raised his head up and groaned inwardly. So he wasn't as lucky as he thought he was.

There, in the middle of the clearing, looking completely frightened, was none other than Sakura. Her hands were empty of any weapon. Behind her was Lee who refused to meet his eye.

Sakura took one tentative step towards him. "Sai? Don't tell me… "

Sai stood up and made to approach her, to prevent her from seeing the body. "I told you to leave." He turned to Lee. "I told you to take her away from here."

Lee shook his head but it didn't look like he had an excuse.

Sakura's eyes never left the still body near the barrels of plum. Sai immediately grabbed her around the shoulders when she made to run towards it.

But it was too late. She had already seen, had already recognized.

"Riho?" Sakura said hoarsely, almost to herself. She seemed to have lost her footing and Sai had to support most of her weight for her. She clung to him desperately, but her eyes were still on the woman who now lay lifeless on the ground.

"You don't need to see this," Sai said as he tried his best to turn her away.

Sakura shook her head in disbelief. Then, angrily, she started to claw her way from Sai's arm. "That's Riho! That's _Riho_, Sai! Let me go! Quick, before it's too late! I can save her!"

Sai tightened his grip on her struggling form. "No you can't! She's dead. A clean cut across the throat. I doubt she felt the pain at all."

"What are you talking about? _It's not too late!_ What purpose is a healer if she can't even do this – "

"Sakura," Lee interrupted, but Sakura wouldn't listen.

"_IF YOU JUST LET ME GO, I CAN DO IT, DAMMIT!"_ Sakura screamed, still trying desperately to fight her way out of Sai's arms.

"_Sakura!"_ Sai yelled. "Calm down. I already checked. She's been dead a while. There's nothing we can do about her now."

Sakura shook her head in disbelief and a few tears spilled down her face. Sai wrapped his arms around her tightly, and she gravitated to him quickly. She buried her face into his shoulder. She did not wail out loud as Sai expected her to do, but instead she silently cried while she shook.

Sai looked over her head to see Lee staring at him apologetically. Sai shook his head at him. This was not the time to talk about this. There would be plenty of time to blame people after he had made sure Sakura was all right. And right now, she did not look like she was all right. Most likely, she would start blaming herself later, if she hadn't already.

Sai's train of thought was distracted when he heard a familiar sound coming from behind him.

"Sai?"

He looked over his shoulder and Sakura raised her tear-stained face as well. They ended up face-to-face with a very distraught Noa. And in her arms was none other than a crying baby Valu wrapped in a bundle of dirty, white clothes.

Sakura's eyes widened in surprise. "That's… "

Noa looked down at the baby as if in a trance. "I found him in one of the empty crates near the outskirts of the clearing…" Her eyes wandered to the body over by the barrels, and she quickly looked away, her arms tightening around the now wailing baby boy. "What… what do we do with him?"

Sai felt the energy suddenly drain from him. Valu was alive, Riho was dead, and the rest of the colony was scattered into the desert. The invaders had gotten away, and it seemed like Noa was the only one who knew what was going on.

He held onto Sakura tighter, and he could feel the kunoichi shiver in his arms. Tonight was the Solstice, and it was going to be a very long night ahead of them.

* * *

_A/N: Forgive this chapter. I don't know what it is, but it just wouldn't sit right with me after rereading it. I guess I'm not that good when it comes to angsty drama scenes. I feel there's something lacking._ _Or maybe I'm just not in the zone. XD Anyway, belated happy new year to everyone!_


	14. Slug Messages

**Chapter Fourteen**

**Slug Messages**

* * *

From an untrained eye, everything about Konoha was back to the way it was before, with the new buildings made of wood and stone the only obvious changes throughout the village. But Temari didn't have _untrained eyes,_ and she knew something was definitely wrong. Well, she knew better than to meddle with Leaf affairs, and with the new Hokage acting as if he had something very unpleasant shoved up his behind, she was not willing to take chances.

However, she thought it to be a personal mission to find out what was eating _him_.

The sun had just set, and it had barely gotten dark when she saw Shikamaru stepping out of the Administrations building, a thick file in one hand and an unlit cigarette in another. Temari frowned. When she first met him, he had struck her as someone who would think maintaining a vice would be too bothersome, but here he was, never seen without one of those disgusting things clamped between his lips.

The Nara had been acting weird. His teammate, Yamanaka Ino had been more than convinced something was up. The girl who Temari had worked together but once a couple of years back had changed as well. She looked… _broken._ Temari had been sent by Gaara to aid Konoha in the evacuations and rehabilitation of the civilians. All throughout the two months she had been busy, but she had a lot of free time in the evenings to hear what Ino had to say. She talked mostly of Haruno Sakura, of how worried she was about the pink-haired kunoichi. When they weren't talking about Sakura, they would be talking about Kakashi, who was conveniently in jail for some reason or another along with a lot of the other _jounin_.

Temari had warned Ino not to talk too much about how she felt about the Sixth. She didn't know if the Yamanaka had taken her advice seriously, but Temari hoped she did. Shimura Danzo did not look like a man who you should mess with.

Shikamaru slipped the cigarette into his mouth and started digging into his pockets for a lighter.

Temari stood up from her spot under the lamp post and dusted her bottom. "Hey, you," she called out to Shikamaru, adjusting her kimono around the waist before approaching him.

Shikamaru looked up and a frown pulled at the corner of his lips. "You."

"Don't look too happy to see me or anything," Temari muttered sarcastically when she reached his side.

Shikamaru went back to digging into his pockets and succeeded in extracting his trusty lighter. "Why are you still here? The renovations are complete, the relocations are done. What else do you need?"

Temari crossed her arms over her chest, turned off by the uncalled for rebuff. "If you must _know_, I was worried about you. That's why I sent my team ahead of me so I can talk to you before I go."

Shikamaru lit his cigarette with a shaky hand. He looked as bored as always, but she could see the telltale lines of stress forming under his eyes and in between his eyebrows. He had been frowning a lot lately, and it showed. "There's nothing to talk about. If your job is done, go back to the Sand. We're grateful and all, but if you have nothing else to do, I think it'd be better if you're not here." He took a long drag of his cigarette, letting the nicotine calm him down.

"Yeah, you're _very_ welcome," Temari shot back. She lunged at him, grabbed his collar and shook him violently. "You ungrateful asshole! I come all the way here to check if you were doing all right and you can't even wait to get rid of me!"

In the struggle, Shikamaru let out a strangled yell when the file in his hand dropped to the floor, several pieces of papers scattered around their feet. It was strange. He would have preferred he dropped the file instead of his cigarette.

"What the hell do you want from me?" Shikamaru demanded as he tried to free himself from Temari's grip.

"I want you to tell me what's going on, because I can help you," Temari seethed. "_If you just let me._ Damn it." She shoved Shikamaru away.

The Nara bent down and started gathering his fallen papers. "Look, thanks for your concern, but really. This has _nothing_ to do with the Sand. The last thing I want is for you to get involved." He looked up and met her gaze with a serious one. "I'd think it wise that we don't talk about anything other than Suna-Konoha related things."

Temari just stared at him incredulously as he finished collecting his papers and straightened up. The bored look was back on his face as he clamped the cigarette between his teeth. Something was definitely wrong. Shikamaru may be intolerant when it came to bothersome things, and sometimes he didn't have the patience to discuss certain matters with her, but he was _never_ rude to her. Not even once. And to think she was going to tell him about Sakura and her companion. What was his name again? Sai?

Shikamaru straightened his flak jacket and sighed. "I'd love to see you off, but I have a lot to get done tonight, which will probably take until morning. I can't stay and chat."

"There's something wrong with you. I mean, really. There's _something_ wrong with you." Temari wanted to grab his neck and wring it like crazy. She wanted to _kill _him. She _might _have killed him if she didn't know it would create an international problem between their villages. "Why won't you tell me what's going on?"

Shikamaru, who looked like he was about to walk away, turned towards her quickly and asked, "Why do you insist on sticking your neck into my business? I already told you, this has nothing to do with you. You would be better off… _disassociating_ yourself with me. You hear?"

"Oh, I hear you. I just don't _get _you." Temari moved to reach out to him. He took a step back. "What is it you're hiding from me? If you're acting all shady like that to the ambassador of Suna, how can we keep the trust between our two villages when we can't even trust each other?"

The reaction in Shikamaru's face was evident. She had hit him hard. "It's not that. It's not about us trusting each other." His eyes darted uncomfortably around them. "It's more like me not trusting _myself."_

Temari let out a snort. "Oh, don't give me that crap! Yamanaka Ino has been worrying sick about you and she's been pouring her heart out to me, because she thinks I can convince you in telling me what's really going on. Now I'm not going to leave Konoha until I know what's bothering you, because I'm going to keep thinking of that girl ranting about it in my conscience."

Shikamaru looked like he was working everything in his smart head. Then he said something that made Temari's jaw drop to the floor. "Go out with me."

"What? Do you want a concussion?" Temari threatened, feeling her face heat up as her hands fumbled with the fan strapped to her back.

Shikamaru sighed, shaking his head as he dropped the cigarette on the ground and crushed it with his toe. That was when he started to avoid eye contact. "Dinner. Have dinner with me, then."

Temari crossed her arms over her chest again, suspicious. "Why do I have to have dinner with _you?"_

"You want to talk, right? Well as far as everyone around this village is concerned, the only reason for us to be seen together is when we're working. And unless you have a better reason to stick around when your work is over without raising suspicion – which I think you already are – then you and I shouldn't be seen together."

Temari hesitated for a bit before lowering her arms back down to her side. So was he saying that she had to go out on a date with him just to talk?

_What the hell?_

Shikamaru shrugged. "The Hokage won't hold it against me if I have a private life. And dinners with a special someone counts as a private life, right?"

Temari stared at him as if he had grown horns. Something was definitely wrong. Temari narrowed her eyes when she sensed something move to her left, a few hundred meters away. Was Shikamaru being followed? She could pick up another one somewhere above them, on the roof of one of the buildings. He was definitely being followed. "Where?" she asked softly, looking down at her feet. She could see the cigarette Shikamaru had put out with his shoe.

"Where what?" Shikamaru asked.

"Where are you taking me for dinner?"

"_Seriously?"_ Shikamaru said in disbelief, as if he had been expecting her to say no in the first place. "You're that desperate? Wouldn't you usually just threaten me with your fan and walk away?"

Temari looked away, suddenly feeling a bit embarrassed. "I wouldn't know. This is the first time you've actually asked me out."

Shikamaru's head was in his hand in a second. "Damn it. Fine. Tomorrow night, then. I'll pick you up from the inn you're staying in."

Temari swallowed involuntarily. Damn it all. She had set a date. They were going out to dinner tomorrow. And he was going to freaking pick her up.

She was still reeling from what had just happened that she did not realize Shikamaru had suddenly leaned over, and pressed his lips so near her ears that she thought he was going to kiss her. And then he whispered, "We can talk about anything you want to know, but you will keep what _you_ know to _yourself_. If you can't hold that promise to me, then the date's off."

Temari pushed him away hurriedly, face suddenly feeling hot. "Tch! Fine, whatever! I'll see you tomorrow then." And she whirled around to walk away.

Something was definitely fishy about this. Shikamaru had always been a very careful shinobi, but this was the first time she had seen him doubt even himself.

She could still feel Shikamaru's eyes follow her until she finally rounded the corner. Temari was going to get to the bottom of this, even if it killed her.

Because Shikamaru asking anyone on dates was just too suspicious to let off.

* * *

The people of Gifu, though admittedly not fighters, were _amazing_ builders. The traces of the attack left by the mysterious invaders were immediately and efficiently erased in a matter of days. The only problem they had was since the Healer's house was located a mere few hundred meters from the well, their only source of fresh water had been destroyed. Neji had suggested digging another hole to extract water from the ground, and using his _Byakugan _– when everyone was asleep and no one knew – he had located the perfect place to set up a new well where the water lever has highest. Tomona and the other men of the colony had agreed that this was the best option, and so the village was thrown into a frenzy in building a new well before their stocked water supply dwindled.

Lee, Neji and Sai had been on the project for three days straight, and digging up a water source was a meticulous job without the proper equipment they had lost in the attack. And while Lee had suggested drilling a hole in the ground with a good, old-fashioned heel-drop – when the people of the colony weren't looking, of course – Sai and Neji thought that it would be wiser to just do it the Gifu-way. But as Sai looked over the three remaining pots of drinking water they had in the newly built, if not smaller kitchen, he was starting to consider the Taijutsu master's suggestion.

Sai hitched the firewood he had under his arm as he let his eyes wander across the broken wall that used to surround their garden. The atmosphere around these parts of the colony reminded him of the destruction of Konoha. He did not like it. Chaos was always something an artist found hard to appreciate, unless you looked really hard enough to find a sapling in the midst of a dilapidated structure.

Or maybe finding a living child on the day his mother died.

Baby Valu now lived with them in the newly rebuilt Healer's house. The child was oblivious of what life had robbed him of, and perhaps this was all for the best. At least by the time he was old enough to ask about her mother, it would not be up to Sai to tell him that his mother's grave was right under the second to the left Madrone tree in the outskirts of the colony.

Sai raised his free hand to the door of the clinic and knocked three times.

Tenten answered the door for him. The dark-haired girl looked horrible, with bags under her eyes and a frown that had been present on her usually smiling mouth ever since they had taken in baby Valu. "Oh, it's you," she muttered, stepping aside to let Sai in.

Sai threw his hood off his head and gave the weapons mistress a nod. "You look as haggard as ever." He quickly dodged the foot that came flying towards his shin, and he proceeded to the hearth and deposited the timber on the waiting basket near it. "The baby had you up all night? I thought you were taking shifts with Sakura?"

"With the way he was crying, those shifts meant absolutely _nothing_. It had to take both of us to calm him down last night because you guys had been so noisy that he wouldn't sleep. And even if he _did _fall asleep, he just kept waking up."

"You know that we have to keep working before we run out of water," Sai pointed out as he shrugged off his coat and started pulling at the fingerless gloves on his hands. Working with dirt and sand with gloves on was a pain. He frowned down at his palms, caked with sweat, mud and tiny rocks. And with no water to spare for washing and bathing, it had been three days since all of them had taken a well-deserved shower. He stank. He knew he did. He could smell himself, and although ninja were sometimes forced to unhygienic situations and Sai never once complained out loud about it, he had to admit he didn't like it. He couldn't even consider holding a scroll and brush. It had been three days since he'd painted anything in his free time.

Tenten sighed, shaking her head. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make it look like I'm blaming you."

Sai didn't really care what she thought. All of them had been wound up lately, and with the fact that Noa had been avoiding them and their questions for the past three days, he was still left with no answers. The mere fact that it had nothing to do with Danzo or Konoha altogether had been a big relief to him, but with the way Sakura had been going on lately, he was starting to think that it didn't matter what it was about.

Sakura had been greatly affected by Riho's death. She was so affected by it, in fact, that she was acting like it _didn't_ affect her at all. She was cheerful, and happy and she was almost always smiling when she was with Valu.

"Where is she?" Sai asked as he wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, trying to get rid of the filth he knew was covering his face.

"She's nursing Valu right now."

Sai nodded absently. Valu was lucky that Sakura was resourceful enough to nurse him. Gifu did not have available dairy milk, and Sakura had been substituting his bottles with nut and almond milks. Making them was Sakura's job everyday, and although she had been saying that the needed calcium could be substituted by almond milk, she had been fussing about the lack of vitamin D. Sai had told her that this was the best they could do in such a place and their given situation. Sakura had agreed with him, but she was still worrying a lot about it.

"Sai," Tenten suddenly said.

Sai looked down at the girl as he started wiping his hands on his trousers. "What?"

"Where do we go from here?" Tenten asked as she started fiddling with her skirts. "When we came here looking for Sakura, we were hoping that you guys would have a plan. That maybe we'd receive any form of instructions from Tsunade-sama, but we've been here for over two months already, and I don't think we're getting anywhere."

Sai raised an eyebrow at her. "We never asked you to stay, and we never promised you that there would be a plan if you do."

Tenten's mouth opened and closed, and then finally she nodded. "I know that. I guess I was just hoping that… well… "

"We're going by as we can, and the only instructions we got from Tsunade-sama was to stay alive. And that's what we're doing," Sai said. He paused, then said, "I had thought this was the safest place for Sakura, but after that attack, I'm considering leaving Gifu. What will you do?"

Tenten was a bit taken aback. She smiled uncertainly. "I'll have to talk to Neji about that. Although I think he'd want to stick together."

Sai felt his face go grim. Though he had resigned to the fact that Team Gai was not an enemy, he was worried about something else.

And that was the perfect time when the door opened to admit that something.

"Ah, there you are!" Lee said enthusiastically as he and Neji entered the clinic looking incredibly dirty and tired. In their arms were two small buckets of cactus meat, the only substitutes they could come up for water.

"Welcome home," Tenten greeted them and she went to take the buckets from her teammates. "How goes the digging?"

"I still say it is better to do it the ninja way," Lee said as he started unbinding his hands of his dirty gloves.

Neji looked at him disapprovingly. "We can't do that."

Tenten nodded. "Neji's right. Don't you dare try anything stupid, Lee." She gave Lee a pointed look before disappearing through the door that led outside to the kitchens, taking the buckets of cactus meat along with her.

"Is your shift over?" Sai asked Neji and tried very hard to ignore Lee who was now looking around, obviously for Sakura.

"Yes," Neji said as he wiped his chin with the collar of his robes. His face was caked with a good layer of sand and a bit of mud that said he had been the one at the bottom layer of the hole, shoveling dirt up. "Another few hours and I think we'll reach the water table. But we're running out of sturdy stones to line the well with. I'm planning to sneak out of the colony later tonight and _'make'_ us good enough boulders to haul back." By that, he meant he was going to take chunks of rock formations outside the colony with his not-so-gentle fist.

"That's a good idea. Need any help?"

Neji gave him an uncertain look. "I think it would be better if you stayed with Sakura as much as you can. She might need you."

Lee was instantly onto them. "I shall stay with Sakura," he offered hopefully.

Neji bared his teeth at his teammate. "You will help me carry back boulders later tonight and you will stop creating more tension than necessary." He let out a tired breath. "The faster we get this done, the faster we get to take baths."

Sai nodded, liking the thought of showering. "That's true. I'll take your shift tomorrow."

"That would be great," Neji said.

Lee was not happy, though he didn't say anything. Sai tried to ignore him as best he could. He still could not forgive the guy for disobeying him and letting Sakura come back to the colony when he had entrusted him to take her away from danger. Not that he had trusted him to begin with. The job of keeping Sakura safe wasn't supposed to be handed down to anybody. He knew that now.

Leaving Neji and Lee in the clinic, Sai started up the stairs to where Sakura was. He found her sitting on the window sill, Valu wrapped in white robes in one arm as she held a bottle of nut milk steadily to his mouth with her other hand. Sai looked around the second floor of their house and sighed. While the villagers had prioritized rebuilding their Healer's house, the furniture burned from the attack were irreplaceable. Aside from the cots they were able to salvage from the fire, their dining table, chairs and majority of her herbs in the garden were gone. The clinic was mostly intact, except for all the broken jars of medicine that Noa was not able to save.

Sakura looked up when she finally realized Sai was standing by the stairs. She smiled that fake smile of hers. "Sai. Welcome home. You stink. I can smell you all the way from here."

Sai blinked at her, paused, then looked down at the floor. "Sorry. We won't be able to do anything about it until the well's operational. I can sleep on the other side of the room if it bothers you."

Sakura was surprised. "You don't have well duty tonight? That's a first."

"Neji and Lee said they have it covered." He looked up finally and was taken aback when his eyes met hers. The smile was still on her face, but her eyes were as empty as they were when they were burying Riho's body. He gestured at the baby. "How is he?"

Sakura's gaze dropped back to the baby, and her expression softened. "He's had his milk, so he'll be asleep in a while." She removed the bottle and placed on the wind sill next to her.

Sai nodded as he lowered himself on the floor, not wanting to get any closer to Sakura after having been told he stank. "You're getting the hang of doing that mothering thing. Have you done this before?"

Sakura laughed absently. "No. I guess all women have maternal instincts."

"You're doing a good job," Sai said, using the sleeve of his shirt to wipe at his cheek, suddenly feeling self-conscious. Did he really smell _that _bad that Sakura could tell all the way there?

Sakura got up from her seat and started rocking the baby gently. "I don't know about the good job part, though. I'm just getting by, and Tenten helps me a lot."

Sai felt one corner of his mouth turn up as he watched Sakura do a little dance across the floor, humming softly to Valu. Memories of that one time when Sakura had been too intoxicated with sleep and had let slip something that could have bordered romantic had Sai really understood it better.

_"I can't wait for her baby. She said she wants a baby boy."_

_"I suppose a boy would be nice for a first-born."_

_"You think so, too? I wouldn't mind if we had a girl instead… "_

Sai felt his face tingle slightly and his cheeks started to grow a bit warm. He wiped at it again with his sleeve. He did not know what it was with Sakura when she was sleepy or drunk or indisposed. He had noticed that she would become quite open to many things that she usually didn't do in normal circumstances. And he did not know why he found this so endearing. Watching her dance around with a baby in her arms was… _pleasing _to the eye. She was just so natural at showering affection. She was born to be a healer.

_Or a mother._

_A lover?_

_A wife?_

Sai looked away. While he had been sure enough that he had confessed his feelings for her, and that there was no way she could have misunderstood, he had started to wonder what normally _really _happened after a love confession. He was almost a hundred percent sure there was a pattern that concerned the girl saying something in return to the boy's proposal. Or had he read wrong? Because so far, after he had told Sakura that he loved her, here she was, completely oblivious of him. She never said anything about it, and he didn't know how to bring it up himself.

Him smelling so undesirably was not helping either, given Sakura didn't even look like she wanted to be near him.

"What are you thinking?" Sakura suddenly asked.

Sai looked up to see her gently laying down Valu in the small crib. That crib used to be in Riho's house. Sai had taken it back to theirs to use for the baby. "That I smell," he said honestly.

"That, you do," Sakura mused as she fluffed several pillows she had arranged around the crib. She tried to laugh. Sai could tell it was the last thing she wanted to do. Straightening up, she crossed the room slowly, bending down by the other window where a wooden bucket sat. She pulled at the colorful scarf wrapped around her hair and threw it inside the bucket. She shook her hair out. It had grown considerably over the months. Sai thought she looked better with short hair. "Come over here," she said.

Sai hesitated a bit, unsure of what she was planning, but stood up anyway and approached her warily. "What is it?"

Sakura gave him a _'you're hopeless'_ look before squeezing out the excess water from her scarf and raising it to his face. "You're acting like I'm going to do something bad to you."

Sai pulled back in surprise when the wet fabric touched his cheek. Out of reflex, his hand shot out to grab her wrist.

Sakura stiffened before frowning at him. "Let go. I'm just going to wipe that grime off your face."

Sai relaxed a bit, eyeing the scarf in her hand. _Her bare, gloveless hand_. He let go quickly. "Sorry. But you shouldn't be wasting water."

Sakura ignored him and tentatively pressed the cloth to his face again. Her eyes were watching her own hand work across his cheeks, down to his neck. "It's just a damp scarf. It's not like I'm splashing water all over you." The cloth left a clean, wet trail as Sakura reached over to the back of his neck. "How long have you been rolling around in the dirt, anyway?"

"Since last night," Sai said, trying hard to concentrate in steadying his breathing. He watched her face, which was dangerously close to his, as she started scrubbing under his chin.

"Tough," Sakura said.

"I don't mind the dirt," Sai tried again, suddenly very aware of Sakura's other hand she had pressed on his chest to balance herself as she reached up to wipe his forehead.

"_I _mind. We're cohabitating here," Sakura muttered softly and she met his gaze for a brief second before she tugged at his shirt bottom. "Take your shirt off."

Sai laughed because he _thought _he recognized – and so he thought it fit to appreciate – the joke. "You're funny."

Sakura blinked at him. "Take it off," she said again before bending down and rinsing the scarf in the bucket.

Sai hurriedly pulled his shirt over his head, not liking Sakura's tone. He had heard it many times before, and he knew that tone shouldn't be taken lightly. He dropped the shirt onto the floor, suddenly feeling very self-conscious. He didn't know what to do with his hands.

Sakura straightened up and started rubbing his right shoulder. She wrinkled her nose. "I'm not used to you filthy. You were always very neat."

Sai watched the top of her head as she started down one arm. "I'm sorry."

Sakura's hand paused in the middle of his upper arm. She peeled a finger from the scarf and she used that to trace his nasty tan line, imposing how pale he really was, and how long he had been out in the sun lately. He bit the insides of his cheek, feeling something that came close to what other people might call _'discomfort'_. He did not feel good having Sakura clean his body. He did not know why.

"I can clean myself," Sai offered, but he found his hands unmoving at his side, with no desire to take the cloth from her.

Sakura looked up from his arm, met his eyes with hers. "Have you talked to Noa?" she suddenly asked

Sai was a bit surprised at her question. "No. She's locked herself in her house. She wouldn't answer to anyone."

Sakura's face went grim. "Maybe I should talk to her."

Admittedly, Sai had been curious about the reason behind the attack that only Noa seemed to know. The girl looked like she had known this would happen the moment Sakura came to Gifu, and had been more than adamant to have her leave because Noa said Sakura _'brought trouble'_. She had said it many times in the past. He had wanted to drill her for answers right after Riho's burial, but the girl had slipped away from them and locked herself in her house and refused to see anyone.

Sai, in the end, had decided that the reason why those people attacked Gifu for their healer was simply trivial. Asking Noa why it happened would not serve him or Sakura any purpose, since he already had his mind set on leaving the colony. "Don't waste your time. After the reconstruction of the well and when the colony goes back to normal, I'm planning on taking you away from here. It's not safe. A merchant was here yesterday for the weekly food trade, and that means he's off with news that Gifu was attacked. It won't be long before people start talking." Not to mention the fact that a body of a person that was not a resident of Gifu was found with his throat slit in the Healer's house, compliments of Sai himself. Of course, the people of Gifu had pretended no such thing happened and acted as if they did not see when Neji and Sai tried to dispose of the body after Tenten had examined it for sealing jutsu that might have been present on the corpse. None were found, and Sai had been disappointed. He had hoped for clues.

Sakura's cloth swept across his chest gently, pausing right on the spot where his heart was. She looked up at him with a determined expression on her face. "We can't leave these people. They might attack again. And what about Valu?"

Sai looked down as the hand on his heart as it tensed into a fist. He reached for it and enveloped it in his own hand, squeezing slightly. "The reason they attacked in the first place was _because _we were here. We can't stay here anymore, for our sake and for theirs."

Sakura was eyeing their hands, and she shook her head. "And the baby? What about baby Valu?"

Sai nearly bristled, honestly surprised. "What about him? Sakura, you're seriously not thinking of_… taking this child in_, right?"

Her face colored a bit and she tore her hand away from his grip. Sai dropped the scarf carelessly on the floor, then snatched her hand back. "Don't run away from me. Let's talk about this."

It was strange, because Sakura actually let him stop her. She turned to face him again, and she was frowning. "You don't understand. You wouldn't understand this kind of thing."

Sai couldn't help but realize he had caught her by her wrist. Had she always been this thin? No. She had lost weight. Again. It had to be the stress, because he had made sure she'd eaten her meals three times a day. "You're right. I don't understand. Why are you willing to risk your life and your mission for people who barely even care about their _own_ lives?"

His question seemed to have angered Sakura because she snatched her hand away from him. "Because I'm _not_ from Root. The least you can do is _pretend_ like you care about what happens to these people."

Sai scratched his forehead, slightly frustrated "We can't help them, Sakura. You know that. Because the only way anyone can help these people is to teach them how to use a pitchfork as a weapon to defend themselves if a threat comes. And that would mean destroying their beliefs. It would mean changing their way of life. You can't do that."

Sakura bit her lower lip and didn't say anything, a sign that Sai had won this round of the argument. However, he knew that Sakura didn't take defeat very well, and he was unconsciously preparing himself for her counter-strike as he picked up his dirty shirt and walked over to the laundry basket overflowing with dirty clothes and linens that they hadn't washed for the past three days. He will have to keep his guard up the moment their water supply comes back; he did not want to lose to Lee, who would most definitely try to get into Sakura's good side by doing the laundry for her.

Sakura slowly made her way towards the crib and looked down at the baby sleeping in it. She had mourned for Riho's death for a mere day. She looked like she needed more time in assessing her feelings about the woman. "What will happen to Valu?"

Sai looked over to her. He did not know what would happen to Valu. And honestly, he knew that he shouldn't care, but… "I'll figure it out. I'll ask around the women for someone who'd want to take him in."

Sakura still looked unconvinced. Sai approached her and said, "You're thinking that it's your responsibility to take care of this child because you're blaming yourself for the death of his mother. But wallowing in your misplaced grief wouldn't do any of us any good. You should be worrying more about what Tsunade-sama wanted you to do. Have you memorized the scroll?"

Sakura shook her head. "Not yet. It's easier said than done. And I'm already very tired."

"I don't want to force you into hurrying it up, but it'd be wise if you mastered the scroll before we leave this place. I think half the pressure would come off after we get rid of that scroll off your back."

Sakura was silent for a minute before she asked, "When are we planning to leave?"

"I was hoping to leave as soon as the well's finished, but since it matters so much to you, we won't leave until we find someone to take Valu. I'm hoping we can do it before spring comes."

"And where are we going?" she asked again softly.

Sai paused, looked over at her and said, "I don't know yet. But believe me when I say that it'll be a safe place. I wouldn't have it any other way."

Sakura returned his gaze, a bored look in those green eyes of hers. "You're still at that."

Sai knew what she was pertaining to. "My life before yours, Sakura," he said simply.

"You make is sound so chivalrous," Sakura said dryly, crossing her arms over her stomach.

"If it had anything to do with chivalry, I would have shown you more courtesy in doing what you want to do. On the contrary, I actually think I _lack_ that courtesy."

Sakura narrowed her eyes at him before turning away. "How nice of you to realize that."

Sai slowly made his way towards the pile of clean clothes – the ones they were able to salvage from the fire – in a hamper by their cots and pulled out a very rumpled grey shirt. He pulled it over his head. "I can detect your sarcasm. I must be getting to know you well already."

Sakura ignored him and started busying herself with the bucket of dirty water and the wet scarf. She shook her head. "You don't know anything about me."

Sai's head popped out of the collar of his shirt and he looked at Sakura curiously. That wasn't true. He knew a lot of things about her. So much, in fact, that he had come to believe he loved her. Or at least in the sense he understood it. The thought made him pause. He wondered if this was a perfect time to follow up his love confession.

"Sakura?" he started.

"What?" Sakura turned to him, venom practically radiating from her eyes.

Definitely not a good time to follow up his love confession.

"Nothing… "

* * *

Yamato was tired. Seeing Kakashi in jail and trying to talk to him always tired him. Maybe his senpai sharing a cell with Gai had something to do with it. He could not put a single word in without having Gai shove in something that had to do with their rivalry or whatnot. After an hour of trying to get advice from Kakashi – and getting interrupted – for a little more than an hour, he had finally given up and abandoned all hope of convincing the man let him in on the plan Shikamaru had laid down on Kakashi not a few days ago that had something to do with Kumo nin and the Hyuuga daughter.

Lately, Yamato was starting to get a bit desperate. Now that the village renovations were complete, and the civilians were successfully relocated to their new homes, he had run out of jobs to keep his mind off many things that he'd rather not think about. And now that he had a lot of free time in his hands, Danzo had started pestering him about the available masons who would be carving his face on the Hokage Mountain. He had intentionally ignored his summons three times that day, and for the first time since the renovations started, he had actually stopped caring.

Yamato turned the corner to the towards the village izakaya, thinking that after all the work he'd done for the village, he deserved this night off and have a few quiet drinks by himself. He guessed having Kakashi in jail had it upsides. It wasn't everyday he got to sit down and wallow in self-pity in peace.

It had been a while since he'd gone home, showered and changed out of his uniform. Even if it were just for that night, he was grateful to shed away his hitai-ate along with his duty to the village and just be another face in the crowd.

His hopes on being alone that night, however, were changed the moment he stepped into the izakaya. No, the place was not crowded. In fact, there were but a number of people sitting on the counter, talking to the flirty-looking little bar maid. But there was a familiar face he spotted in her own little corner table, trying to look invisible. She had her back to him, and she was looking out of the window, a glass of what looked like untouched whiskey forgotten in front of her.

The attire gave her away. In that flimsy white tunic, Yamato knew it was Shizune.

Yamato made his way towards her, shrugged his coat off and draped it on the woman's bare shoulders. She jumped, looked up in alarm, then evidently relaxed at the sight of him.

"You scared me," she accused, sitting up straighter in her chair. She pulled Yamato's jacket closer around her, looking grateful.

"You're still wearing that thing. Go home. Get dressed. Unless you want to get sexually harassed," Yamato said as he invited himself on a chair opposite her.

Shizune frowned down at the glass in front of her. "I can't. That old geezer has me on a dress code."

"You have yourself to blame," Yamato said, raising his hand to hail a waitress. He turned to her. "You've been avoiding me."

This time, Shizune's eyes narrowed at him. "Of course I would. I would avoid a man who's intentionally planted a tracking device on me. What do you take me for?"

Yamato placed his order of a beer when the waitress approached then turned back to Shizune after they were left alone on their table. "It surprises me to know that you're so selectively cautious when it comes to the dangers and threats around you. I planted that on you because I was worried you were going to do something rash."

"And what? Run to my aid when you sense I was in trouble?" Shizune sneered.

Yamato frowned. "No. It was to make sure I'd know where to collect your corpse once Danzo kills you and throws you in a ditch somewhere outside the village. Look, why do you hate me so much? The last time I tried to talk to you, you were just as mad as you are now."

Shizune paused for a moment before lowering her head and slouching on her seat. "I'm not mad. I'm just disappointed."

Yamato blinked. "Disappointed? At what? Me?"

Shizune rolled her eyes and used her drink as an excuse not to look at him. "Of course, you. I could understand Shikaku, Inoichi and Tsume to act how they are because they have their clans to protect, but even then, at least I can see _some_ form of rebellion in them. But I wouldn't have expected you to turn into one of Danzo's lapdogs. Kakashi would never do what you're doing." She was accusing him. She was questioning his loyalty.

Yamato's drink came, which he pushed to the side and leaned his elbows on the surface of the table. "Kakashi would never do what I'm doing that's why _he's in jail_. What good would it have done if I'd let him suspect any form of insubordination and locked me up? Getting the village back up on its feet would have taken ten times as long. And then where would we be?"

Shizune was silent again, and she concentrating on sipping on her drink.

Yamato, feeling slightly annoyed, leaned back on his own chair, grabbed his drink and downed it in two large gulps. "Just because I don't shout my loyalty to Tsunade-sama from the rooftops doesn't mean I'm your enemy. I was taken out of ANBU for a mission that was handed down by the Fifth herself, and until those orders are revoked, my loyalty lies in her hands, and to keep Naruto out of trouble. But since he's conveniently _not_ here in the village as we speak, I tried to offer my services to the village out of the kindness of my heart. I'm sorry to have disappointed you by not choosing jail over underpaid manual labor. Now what have _you _been doing for the past three months?"

Shizune's eyes widened before her face turned several shades redder and she ducked her head again.

When she didn't say anything, Yamato couldn't help himself as he slammed his beer mug on the table. "Let me guess. You were brewing tea for Danzo while plotting his death? Well, then maybe you should go all out and maybe shake those nice hips of yours and flash your bare legs while you're at it, because you sure do have the outfit for it."

Shizune gasped, stood up so fast that her chair fell backwards, and she pulled back her hand. She landed a very hard slap across Yamato's face. "How dare you!"

Yamato instantly regretted what he had said. He wanted to blame the stress and the fatigue from all those weeks of working, but he knew he had spoken out of line. Shizune moved as if to leave, and Yamato was also on his feet, his hand shooting out to grab her wrist. "I'm sorry. Don't go. I didn't mean it that way." When he was sure Shizune wouldn't run off, he walked over to her side of the table, righted her fallen chair and pushed her back on it. Shizune evidently stiffened when his hands touched her shoulders from over the coat Yamato had lent her. "I was out of line. Forgive me."

Shizune shrugged his hands off. "Whatever. Just.. just go back to your seat."

Feeling really horrible, Yamato complied. He suddenly felt drained. Tired. Over-working always brought out the worst in people, and he knew he had no right to shoot Shizune down. It hadn't been easy for any of them lately. He gestured at her. "How… how have you been lately?"

Shizune, probably seeing Yamato's efforts in starting a civil conversation, nodded, but still kept her eyes on the window. "I have today and tomorrow off. The day after that, we're making the new hospital operational, and I'm assigned to lead the preparations. It's the best news I've had in three months. At least I won't be seeing that bastard's face for two weeks straight."

Sensing that her anger was directed back at Danzo, Yamato relaxed in his chair. "Ah, that's good to hear. But now that all capable _chuunin_ are away from the village, putting together a team must be hard, right?"

Shizune sighed at what he said, and she started absent-mindedly dipping her finger in her drink. "So far, the only one I have in my list is Yamanaka Ino. And I've heard she hasn't been herself lately. Those who I know who have great chakra control – well, namely Sakura and Hinata – would have saved me a lot of time."

Yamato suddenly had a light bulb moment. "Well, I won't be able to help you with that, but I have a suggestion for a member."

Shizune looked up, interested. "Really?"

Yamato nodded. "She might be a bit too young, but if you're looking for chakra control, what better recruit than a Hyuuga?" He leaned forward on the table, and Shizune, blinking at him in anticipation, leaned forward with him. "Take Hyuuga Hanabi in your team."

Shizune was greatly surprised, but she did not look disappointed. "Hanabi, huh? She's not enrolled in the academy, right?"

"That's right. She studies at home, and is being groomed by Hiashi himself to succeed the family line."

Shizune was thoughtful, and after a while nodded. "Well, there are talks that she has great control. Even better than her sister, right?"

"In terms of raw talent yes, but she might still lack experience. And since she isn't exposed to other children her age, following medical jargons and rules would prove to be a hassle for you. But, beggars aren't choosers." And it would be better to have the Hyuuga heir under Shizune's wing than have her alone in the Hyuuga compound while Danzo's hounds lurked around her.

Shizune's mood lightened relatively after that. The two of them had ended up drinking more than a few rounds, and maybe it was the alcohol, but Shizune had started to loosen up a bit. Mostly, she complained about Danzo. Sometimes she complained about her clothes. Yamato listened with the patience of a saint, trying to get on her good side more. In turn, Yamato talked about Kakashi, and how he seemed to enjoy his life in prison.

"That sounds like Kakashi, all right," Shizune said, laughing loudly as she crunched on the ice cube from her glass.

"Not only that, but he's asked me to baby-sit his plant. Can you believe that?"

That earned him another round of laughter from the woman. "Well, after all that's happened for the last months in Konoha, believe me, nothing – and I mean _nothing _– can surprise me again."

But it turned out, that there was still something that could surprise her. And Yamato for that matter.

It happened in a blink of an eye, so fast that their brains, slowed down by alcohol, took time to register what was happening before them.

There was a popping sound, a cloud of smoke then something small, white and painfully familiar landed on Shizune's head.

Shizune screamed bloody murder.

Yamato was on his feet in a second, and without thinking, seized Shizune from behind and clamped his hands over her mouth, simultaneously shielding her from the eyes of the people who had turned around to see what had made her scream like a banshee. _"Don't. Make. A scene!" _he hissed.

Shizune started talking against his mouth, breathing hard through her nose.

Because right on her head, in all her slimy glory, sat Katsuyu, blinking up at Yamato with her beady eyes and saying, "Hello. It's been a while."

* * *

That night, Sakura watched through the shutter of the second floor window as Neji and Lee, looking as dirty and tired as that afternoon, set off towards the center of the colony where they were digging up a new well. Tenten, who had Valu in one arm and a little wooden rattle in another, stood beside her as she hummed one of Konoha's children songs to the baby.

"_Bamboo leaves are rustling, rustling, swaying close to the roof's edge. Oh, how the stars are twinkling, twinkling, gold and silver grains of sand. Five wishes I have written. The stars are twinkling and watching from the sky,__" _Tenten sang off-key.

Sakura shivered at the cold, pulled the curtain closed over the windows and smiled at the weapons mistress. "Wow, I haven't heard that song in ages."

"Yeah? I love it. It reminds me of home," Tenten said as she started dancing gently around the room, rattling the toy in front of Valu playfully.

Sakura suddenly felt a bit homesick. She had been homesick many times before in the last months they had been in Gifu, but maybe not as much as she did now. Ever since Riho's death, she felt as if a heavy veil had fallen over the colony, and whatever charm it had had simply died with the woman. The attack had brought back so many bad memories of the time when Konoha had been ground to dust, and those memories were the ones she wished she could forget. That was what started it all. She wondered when it will all end…

"Let me check the fire downstairs, all right?" Sakura said. "I'll bring a fresh bottle up later."

Tenten nodded. "Thanks. Baby Valu and I will just stay here and play. Isn't that right, baby Valu? You love to play with Aunt Tenten, right?" It earned her a small giggle from the baby.

Sakura laughed at her as she made her way down the stairs to the clinic. She was feeding the dwindling fire some timber when Sai walked in from the front door, looking grim. She turned around to face him. "Any luck?"

The Root agent shook his head. Sai had left earlier before sunset to once again try talking to Noa, but it looked like today, too, the girl refused to come out and tell them anything. Sakura did not understand what and why she was hiding things from them, when it concerned something as important as the safety of Gifu.

"If she doesn't open up her door tomorrow, I'm seriously breaking it down," Sai said, a grotesque smile spreading across his stoic face. It wasn't everyday Sakura got to see his patience stretched, but she guessed she understood his feelings towards the matter. He pulled his robes off his shoulders and hung it on one of the pegs on the wall.

Sakura sighed as she tossed one more piece of wood in the fire. "Give it up. She'll come out in time."

"We don't _have _that time. We're leaving here the moment you master that scroll and find Valu a guardian," he pointed out as he joined her by the fire, sitting down on the hard floor, crossing his legs in front of him.

Sakura stared down at him, noticing how his hair was sticking up strangely at the back. Fighting the urge to reach out and fix it, she crouched down beside him and hugged her knees to her chest. "Have you asked around about Valu?"

"I asked a few of the women, and some of them say they're going to think about it. You can't blame them, though. Feeding that young a child would be hard in a place like this. And none of them have your patience in making breast milk substitutes. I'll try again tomorrow." He looked over to her, then said, "I promise."

Sakura swallowed the lump that had started forming in her throat. She had to do that a lot lately, every time Sai looked at her straight in the eye. She did not know what had changed so much in those dark eyes of his. They were still dead and glassy, but once in a while there would be something going on behind them that she could not put her finger into.

Of course, her discomfort had a lot to do about that night of the Solstice, when Sai had conveniently dragged her out of the house and throw at her a very uninspired love confession, only to be interrupted by an invasion that had cost her the life of a friend.

In all honesty, she didn't know where to go from there. It didn't look like Sai even remembered that time. Well, it wasn't as if she could blame him for that. _She_ had nearly forgotten about it after all that's happened. But for the past days, when her mind wasn't as preoccupied with more important stuff, she would remember it.

"_I think I may have fallen in love with you without me noticing it."_

What kind of confession was _that _anyway? He _thought _he had fallen in love with her? So… _was _he in love with her? Or did he just _think _he was?

She shook herself quickly. It wasn't as if it mattered. He hadn't brought it up ever since. And she didn't even have it in her to ask him about it, because she did not know what she should expect from him if she did. She didn't want to make it sound like she was… _curious_. Oh, no. God forbid he misunderstood. Because… well… she _didn't _care if he really meant it or not. Right?

_Right?_

"By the way, I have something for you," Sai suddenly said.

Sakura jumped at the sound of his voice and she turned to look at him, a bit flustered. "Huh?"

He was digging into his pocket. After a few moments, he finally took it out. It looked like a small hair accessory with some green gem on it. Sai took his time in plucking out the lint that had stuck on it from his pocket and held it out to her. "Here. I thought it might look good on you."

Sakura stared at the object in honest surprise and took it in her hand. "Oh… well… thank you."

Sai's hands were instantly back on his knees as he stared at the fire again. "You're welcome."

Sakura thought it polite to clip it on her hair, though feeling a bit awkward for receiving a gift out of the blue. She randomly picked a lock of hair to attach it to. She turned to Sai. "How does it look on me?" she asked.

Sai looked up at the place where she had placed the accessory, reached out as if to set it straight, then nodded. "It looks good on you. It brings out your eyes."

Sakura felt her face heat up, and she swatted away his hand. "Idiot. These are the times when you'd laugh at me and say I look ugly."

"But then you would punch me. Your punches hurt."

Well, he may be right, but it was easier to just get angry at his insults instead of feel strangely happy at his compliments. She looked away. "Well, thanks."

"Yeah," he said.

A long, uncomfortable silence followed. It was so long that when Sai suddenly spoke, she had to bite her lip from letting out a small, nervous yelp.

"Sakura," he started.

Sakura swallowed. What with the serious tone in his voice? "Wh-what?"

"I have to tell you something. To tell you honestly, I don't know where to begin."

_So don't! _Sakura thought to herself, her heart suddenly beating faster. She had a bad feeling about this.

"I haven't done much reading about this, and in normal circumstances, I know it shouldn't have gone that way. But a few days back, that Solstice night… " Sai took a deep breath, his eyes never leaving the fire. "Do you remember?"

_How could I forget? No one can forget that half-assed confession. _She let her gaze drop down to her lap. "Uhm… not really," she lied.

"Oh…" Sai said, a bit disappointed. "Well, I guess it would be better if I just say it all over again." He shifted in his place, turned around to face her. "Look at me."

Sakura felt a cold sweat pop on her forehead. "Uhm… I'd really rather not."

"But if you don't look at me, how can I tell you that I lo – "

"Stop!" Sakura screamed, covering her ears with both hands. She did not have to hear this. She had heard it the first time, and in that very small window of opportunity given to her to think about it before her surroundings had been engulfed in flames, she had felt so very uncomfortable at the fact that this person, who knew _nothing _about human emotions, was telling her he loved her. _For the second time_.

"What?" Sai asked.

Sakura turned to face him, and he looked wide-eyed and confused that for a moment she felt a bit guilty for suddenly screaming at him. "You don't have to say it again. I know. I remember what you said that night."

He nodded vigorously, encouraging her to continue.

Unfortunately, she did not know how to respond. What was she supposed to say? She didn't even know if he really did understand their situation right now.

"You don't… feel the same way?" he asked slowly.

Sakura bit her lower lip, not really sure of how to answer that.

"Do you hate me?" he asked again.

"What? No!" Sakura suddenly blurted out. She did not even know why she was getting all flustered with all this.

"Then do you love me?" Sai asked again, and God help him, he had said it with such a straight face that Sakura considered slamming her fist in his face for embarrassing her so much.

"Lo - _what?_ No! I don't love you!"

"Then you hate me," Sai said, wilting.

"_I don't hate you!" _Sakura seethed. She hated these kinds of conversations. They made her brain hurt and her IQ drop several notches below sea level. "God, I'm not having this conversation with you." She bundled her skirt in her arms and stood up.

Sai grabbed her hand. "Don't go. Stay."

Sakura gasped. Maybe it was because she wasn't expecting his hand to be this warm against her clammy ones, or maybe she had just forgotten how big his hands were compared to hers. But the mere fact that he had his gloveless hand gripping _her_ gloveless hand had made her stop in her tracks.

"We're not going there, Sai," Sakura warned.

And for the first time, she actually saw a raw emotion flicker on that stoic face of his. He was hurt. "That's unfair. You're not even going to reject _or _accept my feelings. You're just going to ignore the fact that I feel this way," he accused.

Sakura tried to free her hand from his vise-grip. "That's because you don't know what you're talking about. I'm saving you the embarrassment that you always get when you think you know how humans work."

Sai's eyebrows furrowed. "Noa said… she said that humans don't work. They just _are_. You're right, I don't know anything about these feelings, because I've always refused to react to them. That was how I was trained. Which makes it all the more strange for me, because I can't help but react to them when I'm with you."

Sakura pulled at her hand again. No, this was not happening to her. She did not have the time or the stamina to worry about Sai's delusion of being in love with her. "Let go!"

"Listen to what I'm saying, please!" And using the strength Sakura forgot that he had, he tugged at her hard, and she ended up falling against him. He caught her quickly, pulling her to his chest and catching her other hand in his.

She found herself straddling his hips. A position that would normally have made her so mad at him, but for some reason she felt weak. Sai had raised their intertwined hands between them, and he was looking down at them with utmost interest.

"This is the first time I've ever felt this way. Or better yet, this is the first time I've ever _allowed _myself to feel. I worry about you when you don't take care of yourself, and I'm angry at you when you refuse to listen. I get frustrated when you're being stubborn and I… I get jealous when you show Lee a bit of attention that I know I don't have the monopoly of," Sai said under his breath as he clenched and unclenched his fingers through hers.

The mere thought that they were actually in a very intimate state of foreplay by Gifu's rules was making Sakura's head spin. She looked away from him,

Sai tried to meet her eyes by peering at her face. "I'm not sure how the natural order of things go when it comes to this kind of situation, but I just wanted you to know how I feel. You don't have to answer right now. I know you have a lot in your head as of the moment. I just wanted you to know. That… you know, I feel that way. About you."

And how was a girl supposed to respond to _that?_

Sakura gritted her teeth so hard she swore she chipped her molars. She had never had this kind of experience before. The only situations that came close to being confessed to were Naruto's annoying jokes and pick up lines. And then of course there was her life-changing love confession to Sasuke…

But never _this_… Not ever anything like this.

Sai was watching her with eyes clouded over by something that came close to despair. And it took her everything to look him in the eye out of respect for his feelings.

But to simply reject them…?

More so accept them?

What was she to do?

She closed her eyes tiredly and leaned her forehead against his. "I don't know what to do, Sai. I'm sorry."

"You don't have do anything. I just wanted you to know. To tell you honestly, I wouldn't know what to do after this if you accepted _or _rejected me. So… yeah… "

Sakura could feel the tip of his nose brushing against hers, and she didn't know what else to do but pull back and make some lame excuse to get away from this uncomfortable setting.

She didn't have to think of an excuse much.

Because the next thing that happened was enough to make both her and Sai forget everything that had happened for the past week.

Because in one moment it was just the two of them, and then the next moment they could hear a faint explosion from a few feet above them, and the next thing they knew, Sai was covered with a generous amount of slime, and on his head was a white slug that Sakura thought she would never, ever see again.

"Katsuyu-sama!" Sakura suddenly cried as her hands let Sai go out of instinct.

Sai instantly wiped the slime out of his eyes. "What? What's going on?"

Katsuyu's eyes turned from Sakura to Sai, and to the way Sakura had her legs straddling Sai in a position that could have made anyone who saw them think. "Ah… I must have picked a wrong time to appear."

Sakura scrambled off Sai's lap, and if it weren't for the elation that she was feeling at the moment, she would have died of embarrassment. "Katsuyu-sama! It's been a while."

The slug hurriedly wiggled herself down to Sai's lap. "I know. I bear good news," she said.

Sai met Sakura's eyes before they both looked down at Katsuyu expectantly.

"Tsunade-sama is back."

* * *

_**TBC**_


	15. Throwing Gauntlets

**Chapter Fifteen**

**Throwing Gauntlets**

* * *

_Drag. Drag, drag, drag…_

Everything lately had been a drag. Danzo was a drag. Temari was a drag. And Kakashi…

Kakashi was a _major_ drag.

Said man looked over his porn and gave Shikamaru his usual one-eyed stare. "Oh. You're here again."

Shikamaru didn't even know what he meant with _that_. Lately the copy ninja's passiveness had been getting on his nerves. It was not in Shikamaru's nature to exert this much effort in an endeavor, but Kakashi had been pushing him to his limits with his obvious indifference on the things going on around him. While Shikamaru had been more than convinced to just lay back, watch and relax as things unfolded naturally in the Leaf, Temari had to choose the right time to nag him as well. He was not having a nice week.

Women. They will be the death of him.

But then again, that was just him looking for someone to blame for his unrest. Even before Temari had shown signs of anxiety towards the events in Konoha, he had made sure to visit Kakashi at random days at a time in hopes to clear his head of the big feeling of _'bleh' _muddling his thoughts as of late, even when he had forced himself several times to just forget about it.

Because while Shikamaru's nature dictated his body to _want_ results with the limited possible effort, it was also in his nature to be loyal to his friends. And there were times when the latter won over the former.

And so once again, today, he found himself sitting on the floor in front of Kakashi and Gai's shared cell, elbows resting on his knees and fingertips touching to form the usual square with his hand, a sign that he was in deep thought.

Lately, this was the only thing he had been doing: thinking. It had been three months since he had received Danzo's seal on his tongue. He had spent majority of those three months looking in the mirror with his tongue sticking out, as if looking at it long enough would unravel the secrets behind it. He had heard about this seal Danzo used on his subordinates in Root, but he had never really thought much on how strong the bind was. Because of his lack on information about it, he had been schooling himself not to talk to anyone much, even in his private time, in fear of the seal. For all he knew, Danzo might actually be capable of using it against him.

The only exception was Temari, of course. Damn her. He was meeting her tonight for dinner. For… a _date_.

_Double drag._

He did not even know why he was so anxious about it. He knew he shouldn't even be considering it. But she had been persistent. And he found resisting too… _bothersome _to consider.

Gai was sleeping soundly on the bunk across Kakashi's and it seemed like at the sound of the copy ninja's voice, Gai stirred from his slumber, turned over on his side and blearily looked over to Shikamaru.

"A visitor? You should have woken me up, Kakashi," Gai said, pushing himself up to a sitting position. A chunk of dark hair at the side of his head that had been pressed onto his pillow was standing out at an odd angle, and he spent a few minutes trying to flatten it out.

Kakashi smiled from under his mask, his exposed eye crinkling at the side as he did so. "I didn't want to disturb your beauty sleep, Gai. I know you've been up all night patrolling the border."

Shikamaru's head shot up suddenly. What did Kakashi just say?

Gai yawned, stood up from his bunk and stretched his hands over his head before bending forward to touch his toes. "Nonsense! I do not know the definition of _'tired'_."

Shikamaru's hands were instantly on the cell bars, his fingers curling tightly around the cold steel. "What do you mean you've been _guarding the border?" _he demanded.

It didn't look like the two men heard him.

"Don't worry. I have it covered tonight," Kakashi said, his gaze returning to his dirty book.

"It's okay, partner. You pulled an all-nighter three times in a row last month. I can do better. I shall do five all-nighters this week!" Gai declared happily.

Shikamaru couldn't believe his ears. He rattled the bars to catch their attention. "Hey!"

Gai turned to him. "Yes, my boy?"

This was something he did not expect at all. But it was, indeed, a pleasant surprise. When he had proposed to have Kakashi released to fill in the mission as a mediator between the Kumo ambassadors coming over this month, he had been elated when Danzo actually gave in to his plan.

The last thing Shikamaru had expected was Kakashi refusing to accept the mission.

He had given demands, for one. Demands that Danzo was not willing to give in to. Kakashi had wanted every single jounin in the prison released.

Shikamaru had not been surprised when Danzo had adamantly turned a deaf ear on these demands, of course. He was not a stupid man. He knew that with everyone freely roaming about the village to organize groups no less than two or three, mutiny was not far behind. And so Shikamaru had given up on that chance of getting Kakashi out of his cell. He was not worried about the ambassador; Shikamaru can out-smart – even if he couldn't out-talk – any ambassador any day, and Hyuuga Hanabi's eyes were no longer a problem for him, especially since he had heard just yesterday from Yamato that Shizune was going to keep the little Hyuuga under her wing, along with Ino.

But still… what on earth were they talking about these little excursions to the border, when it was obvious they were in jail?

Gai did a few jumping jacks, shook his arms out, then said ever so casually, "I suddenly have a craving for some tea."

"Oh? I'll have barley, then," Kakashi said, raising his hand but not his eyes.

And even before Shikamaru could react, Gai was no longer in the cell, but was standing beside Shikamaru, tapping his toes on the pavement a few times before easily walking away. He disappeared down the stairwell, humming to himself.

Shikamaru stared after him, eyes widening in disbelief.

_What… what just happened?_

Shikamaru slowly turned back to Kakashi. "How long have you been doing this?" he demanded.

Kakashi shrugged, snapping his book shut and laying it gently on the bed. "Let's see. Since we got in here?"

Shikamaru was in complete awe. "You walk out of your cell in broad daylight?"

Kakashi leaned his elbows on his knees. "No. We usually go out when the sun's down. This is the first time we're doing it before night fall, really. Patrolling the border started the night we were stuffed in here. We do it in pairs with the people in the other cell, expect for Ibiki. We let him stay put."

Shikamaru couldn't help himself. He smiled then asked, "Why Ibiki-sensei?"

"Because no one bothers us when he's watching."

Of course. Shikamaru's smile broadened despite the irony.

"We do it discreetly, although I don't think we had Danzo fooled. His spies might have spotted us several times throughout the months. We personally didn't care."

It was starting to get pretty funny. Shikamaru found himself shaking his head ruefully. "So, he never said anything?"

"We've been doing it for three months now, but he hasn't said so much as 'boo' to us."

"So you've been doing this discreetly for three months. So why is Gai-sensei out there right now, indiscreetly, getting you barley tea?"

And that was when Shikamaru noticed the twinkle in that one eye of Kakashi's. "Because, Shikamaru, today is different."

Shikamaru's eyebrows raised slightly, fingertips touching fingertips. "Different?"

Interesting. A drag, though. And very troublesome, and he'd rather not know it but Kakashi looked like he was going to tell him, anyway.

Or show him.

Because one moment, he was pressing his fingertips together, and the next moment there was a puff of smoke and a small slug was sitting on his hands.

"Shikamaru-kun. It's been a while."

And Shikamaru did not even know why, but for some weird reason, he knew this was going to happen sooner or later.

And what timing for this to happen now. Temari was waiting for him for dinner.

Perfect.

Kakashi was watching him with that one-eyed gaze. "Don't worry about it," he said. "You don't have to hold your tongue too much anymore."

Shikamaru could only smirk. It was not a shock for him to find out that Kakashi knew all along.

* * *

If people were going to ask Sai if he had a conscience, he would have just smiled at them and walked away. Of course, no one had ever dared asked him such a question in his seventeen years, and that was because people didn't go asking around if Root agents bothered to develop one.

But maybe right now – maybe, just a little – he was feeling a tad guilty for having to disobey Sakura.

She had told him not to break down Noa's door.

"What… what have you done?" Noa screamed angrily as she came bounding out of her kitchen to the living room, looking absolutely hassled.

Sai frowned. He didn't know why people asked such questions when the answer was plain as day. He raised the hand holding a piece of door with the knob still attached. "I broke it to get in. I'll fix it later."

Sai could practically see the fumes coming out of Noa's ears. She lunged forward with a cry, snatched the doorknob from him and hurled it across the room. It hit a poor, unsuspecting vase on one of the shelves. Sai watched as it shattered into pieces onto the floor. He had been in Noa's house before, and he couldn't help but notice that there were many other broken things in her living room compared to the last time he had dropped by.

"Why are you mad at me? I just came here to deliver water. The well's finally operational." Sai backed away a bit when Noa glared at him evilly. "Didn't you want water?" he asked.

"I don't want anything that comes from you!" Noa snarled, her hands gripping her skirts angrily. Was she _always_ this angry?

"Why do you hate me so much? It's just water. It's just a door."

"Get out! Get out, get out, get out!" Noa nearly flew towards him, teeth bared and nails flashing as she tried to claw at him.

Sai sighed in resignation as he caught her wrists easily on either hand. "Please don't do this. It's hot outside, and I don't want to waste energy. I have the noon's shift in water distribution after this."

"Then get the hell out of here!" She tried to kick him on the shin.

Sai dodged effortlessly. Noa nearly lost her balance and Sai steadied her quickly. "I can't. I need to talk to you about something."

"Well, I don't want to talk to you! I know what you want to ask. But this doesn't concern you. Outsiders should just stay _outside!_"

Sai set his jaw grimly. She was right. If it were up to him, he would have just left everything alone and waited for Sakura to master the scroll, get rid of it, look for a place to leave Valu, and get out of Gifu as fast as he could help it, even if he had to stuff Sakura into a bag and throw her over his shoulder if she wouldn't come peacefully.

He frowned even more. Lately, just the mere reminder of Sakura would send a string of thoughts through his head concerning the pink-haired kunoichi that were more than unwelcome in his subconscious.

And he hated it.

It had been but four days since he had confessed (for the second time) his feelings for her, and after Katsuyu's very short visit to report about Tsunade-sama's status, Sakura had conveniently set aside his feelings and covered it all up with a fake enthusiasm that even Sai, given his lack of skill at deciphering things that concerned emotion, could tell was a mask.

One, because Sakura was being nice to him.

Nice.

To him.

Sakura was only nice to him when he was hurt. And even when she was nice to him when he wasn't hurt, she would make sure that he would _hurt _more if he ever pointed it out to her.

But ever since he had confessed to her in front of the fireplace – where she had shot his feelings down – she had been doting, and happy, and very, very un-Sakura-like. Tenten was one to notice this change, and had in fact confronted him about it a couple of days after he had poured his heart out to her.

It was one of the strangest conversations Sai had ever had in his life.

"_Hey. Sai, anything good happen?"_

"_Why do you ask?" _

"_Sakura's been acting weird since… I dunno, since two days ago?"_

"_What's wrong? Is she feeling all right?"_

"_Ah, no. She isn't feeling bad or anything. She just feels… _different_."_

"_It must be because of Katsuyu-sama's news. It's the best we've had in months."_

"_Nah. I don't think that's it. Did you… did you guys talk about something? Because every time I talk to her about you… she just… "_

"_She just what?"_

"_She giggles and changes the subject when she would normally just answer me with dry sarcasm. And she'd… blush."_

"_Oh. That's probably because I told her that I love her."_

"_WHAT?"_

Sai only realized that he had said the wrong thing when Tenten squealed like a little girl and started drawing heart shapes in the air with her fingers while saying, "I knew it! I knew it!"

He had asked the weapons mistress not to tell Sakura that he had blurted it out to her.

"_Are you kidding me? I wouldn't tell her even if I wanted to. She'd probably kill me," _was what she said, and Sai believed her.

"What are you staring at? You're creeping me out!"

Sai gave a start and he stared down at the small girl who was looking back at him uncertainly. Her wrists were still trapped in his hands. He immediately let go, and she sprang a few feet away from him, rubbing her wrists warily.

"What's wrong with you? For a moment I thought… "

Sai narrowed his eyes at her. "You what?"

Noa bit her lower lip uncomfortably. "Nothing. Just get out of here."

Sai shook his head. "I'm not leaving without answers."

That got her all riled up all over again. She grabbed the nearest thing she could get her hands on – which was a cactus in a pot sitting on her desk – and threatened to throw it at him. "Answers to _what?_ What do you want to ask me? Wasn't it enough that you ignored me when I told you that you and your _stupid_ Sakura would bring Gifu pain? Don't tell me I didn't warn you! Because that was the first thing I did when you got here three months ago!"

Sai felt his cheek twitch uncomfortably. "Don't call her stupid. She's not stupid."

"Well, then _you're _stupid!"

"That may be the case, but there was more to it that my stupidity that caused some foreigners to come here and attack. You said they were after a healer. What did you mean by that?"

"I meant what I meant! They came here again like they did six years ago!" Noa was clutching the cactus in a pot so tight in her hands that her knuckles were turning white. "And they would keep on coming if they found out Gifu had a healer. And they would take her. They always do." Her voice faltered at the last sentence, and she lowered the potted cactus back on the desk.

Sai blinked at her, warily watching her hand as it finally let the cactus go. Could it be… ?

"Is that the reason why you keep chasing away people who come to take the job?"

Noa turned away with a pained face. "I have no choice, do I? My grand-mama died for this stupid colony, because she wanted to stand up and fight for the people who don't even give a care what happened to them. I don't even know why I stayed." She turned back to him. "Healers in this part of the wind country are scarce. Most of them are recruited by the ninja village of the Sand, back when this woman called Chiyo was still alive. I'm not sure who she is, but I heard she teaches people to heal… to heal like how Sakura heals. With _chakra_. My grand-mama was one of those who studied under her when she was young. She was born in Gifu, but traveled alone to the Sand to learn."

Sai raised his eyebrows at the girl. Well, at least that explained why Noa was a little bit knowledgeable with the jargons of the ninja world. Was she taught by her grandmother? "Was she a kunoichi of the Sand?" he asked.

It got the weirdest reaction from the girl. "How dare you!" Noa suddenly cried indignantly. "How dare you accuse my grand-mama of being like, like… _you people! _She was not a kunoichi! She wasn't a murderer!"

Now that got Sai genuinely confused. "A murde – what? You think we ninja are murderers?"

"Oh, don't play dumb with me. You get paid to kill." Noa sneered at him. "You killed that man in the Healer's house like it was nothing."

Sai seldom got mad. No. He _never _got mad. But for some reason, Noa accusing him of being a murderer did not sit well with him, especially since he found her reasoning quite twisted. He normally would not care because he had killed many a time before, but for some reason, having Noa label him – having her label Sakura – without even knowing anything about them did not sit well with him. He crossed his arms over his chest. "As far as I can remember, I killed that man to save _your_ life. And if I'm not mistaken, you didn't pay me to do so."

Noa was, as expected, not convinced. "You're all the same. You and your precious little Sakura, and your three friends."

"Sakura is a ninja, but she's helped this village more than she needed to," he pointed out.

"And because of her, Riho's _dead_."

And before Sai could even stop himself, a kunai was in his hand he had cornered Noa against a wall, his weapon pressed against her slender neck. "You know as well as I that Sakura had nothing to do with Riho's death." He narrowed his eyes at her. "You will _never _blame Sakura again, or I will kill you. For free." The kunai slipped back into his sleeve and the smile was back on his face as he backed away from her.

Noa, whose eyes had widened the moment Sai had rammed her against the wall, quickly had her hands around her throat self-consciously. Her green eyes were still trained on Sai's smiling face.

"I understand now, how you feel like you have to protect this place because this is your home," Sai said. "But for someone who claims that she can read people's hearts, it's a mystery that you can't understand Sakura's feelings. Ironically, you two have the same ideals, so much that you _hating _her is a mystery to me."

"We aren't the same. How dare you compare me to her," Noa hissed.

Sai eyed her, not really quite understanding fully where she was coming from. "_You_, Noa, don't quite understand. Couldn't you read her pain? Do you even know why we had to come here? Do you know how much Sakura had to go through just to survive?" he asked, then added in a whisper, "You know _nothing._"

He did not know what he had said that made Noa back away a bit, her eyes trained on his face as if she was seeing him for the first time. She blinked up at him, then said, "I see you…"

Sai frowned, not sure what she was trying to say. "What?"

Noa took that time to take a step forward. "I _see _you. You always kept it in, and there had been moments – like, split-second opportunities that you'd let your guard down. But right now, you're wide open. You're… you're… _wide open!" _she exclaimed, almost as if she was seeing something great.

Sai did not know what made him feel suddenly naked being in front of her. Given, this was probably one of the very rare moments he had let his emotions get away with him. Noa was watching him.

He returned her gaze coldly, and her face fell. It was not good to let his emotions run away with him. Not in front of this girl, at least.

"You've told her you love her," she said weakly, and there was something in her eyes that he had not seen there before. Was she… was she feeling sorry for him?

Sai didn't know what to say. He had asked help from Noa to assess his feelings for Sakura before, but he had not expected her to pity him. In the few seconds she had let his emotions get away with him, Noa found out that Sakura had not answered his feelings, or even tried to acknowledge them.

But he realized one thing.

He didn't care.

Ninja were not born in this world to pine away beautiful, pink-haired women while trying to escape possible hunter nin who could be after them.

"Why did you let her get away without finding out her feelings for you?" Noa suddenly demanded. It was probably one of the most inappropriate questions given the setting. After all, how was he to know that Katsuyu was going to pick that time to appear out of nowhere and tell them that Tsunade-sama was doing well?

Sai shrugged. "This isn't the time to nag her about trivial things like 'feelings.' I might as well tell you, because Sakura's job might inevitably fall in your hands after, but we're planning on leaving Gifu."

That had the girl pausing for a brief moment, and she was blinking at him in disbelief. "When?" she asked faintly, her arms dropping to the side.

"As soon as we find Valu a place to stay. And as soon as Sakura is ready." His mask was immediately back up, and his trademark smile was plastered on his face. "Aren't you happy? With Sakura gone, the trouble you're convinced she brings with her would disappear."

And that actually made Noa duck her head as if in shame. But that could only be Sai's interpretation of her actions. For all he knew, she could be doing a happy dance deep down inside.

He sighed, then turned to her. "You and Sakura may be different in so many things, but just like you, her home matters to her as much as yours do. Gifu has been wonderful to us, even if you deny us your hospitality. But you've provided Sakura a place to call a home – if temporarily – and for that, I'm forever grateful. One of these days, maybe when everything's over, I'll be back to thank you one way or another. Remember that." He reached out to Noa, who still had her chin down, eyes hidden behind her fringe of red hair, and gently rested his hand on her head. That got her to look up at him with those wide green eyes that reminded him so much of Sakura.

"I've lived my life denying myself the capacity to feel because my job requires me to do so," Sai started, giving her hair a gentle ruffle before turning away from her. "You, on the other hand, are gifted with this skill to 'read' a person's feelings without having to do anything. In many different ways, I could say I envy you. But now that I look at it, it's the reason why you've grown to guard yourself around the people who try to get close to you. I don't know if it's the selfish intentions they have in their hearts that make you hate them, or their kindness they show towards you that make you fear the possibility of them leaving you again. Either or, if you don't change, you'll just end up wasting your life putting up walls around you to keep everyone away." He looked over his shoulder and gave her a small smile that he felt like giving genuinely.

"I'm not sure when we're leaving, but in case we don't see each other again – because I know you don't enjoy the company of murderers – I guess it's better to say goodbye now. So, goodbye. And take care."

Noa did not say anything, and he left her house without bothering to look back. He kind of felt sad. He had been hoping that by the time they left Gifu, he'd have made a friend in her. She wasn't really all that bad.

* * *

After finally receiving the best news in months, Neji had been left in a good mood the whole week. Sai and Sakura had reported to them that Katsuyu-sama had come to deliver the message that Tsunade-sama was back on her feet. That, and of course the fact that they were able to fix the well and they could now take baths.

After successfully filling and dragging several barrels full of water back to the healer's house to bathe, he came round front to find Tenten dancing around in little circles with baby Valu in her arms. Much to Neji's surprise, Lee was dancing around with her as he clapped his hands happily, singing some nursery song Neji hadn't heard in over ten years. He could hear Valu's giggles over his singing.

Neji felt his cheek twitch as he stood by the door frame, unhappy that Lee was coming anywhere near the baby when he was that filthy. "Lee. Get away from there and take a bath before you spread your germs on Valu."

Lee and Tenten looked up from the baby, noticing for the first time that someone had invaded their playtime. "Neji, welcome back," Tenten greeted happily. "You won't believe this. Valu actually likes Konoha kiddie songs."

Lee laughed, but did was Neji told and stepped away from Tenten and the baby. "I am sorry, I could not help it. He is so tiny and adorable. He laughs every time I sing."

Neji couldn't help but smile a small smile at their excitement. He could not help but realize Tenten's excitement when taking care of the baby, and the way Lee's eyes would light up when he was given a few hours to rest before his shift for the water distribution to play with Valu. Neji crossed his dirt-covered arms over his chest and jerked his head outside towards the back. "I got us water. Go on and take a bath so that you can hold the baby. I know you've been dying to."

Lee nodded excitedly and he wasted no time in making a funny face towards the baby before making his way across the clinic. He paused in front of Neji for a while. "Would you like to take a bath together, Neji? I shall scrub your back and you can – "

"I'll pass," Neji injected quickly. He had taken a bath with Lee in the river in a mission a few years ago. The man had no shame when it came to private parts and dangly bits, and gave the stupid excuse that physical excellence was something to be boasted about. It had been worse when Gai-sensei tried to join them. Ever since then, Neji had made sure to time his baths in rivers during missions when Lee was away gathering firewood and Gai-sensei out to set traps around the camp.

Lee did not look too happy at his refusal, but hung his head and made his way out the clinic to the back where Neji had left the water barrels, anyway.

Tenten was smiling at him from the middle of the clinic as she resumed her little dance. "I'd have thought you'd jump at the opportunity for first dibs at a shower."

Neji gave a one-shouldered shrug. "If Lee cleans up first, you can ask him to watch over the baby, and you and Sakura could bathe together after."

Tenten's eyebrows shot up inquiringly, then she smiled as she did a full turn, earning a high giggle from the child. "Are you worried about Sakura, too?"

Neji frowned. After hearing from Katsuyu, he had actually expected Sakura to be the most excited about it. But for some reason he could not understand, the pink-haired kunoichi looked like she had been out of it majority of the time for the past four days. Admittedly, he was a bit worried that he had even checked if it had anything to do with her chakra. Given they were still considerably low, he did not think her lethargy had anything to do with it. Sai had already told them that they were leaving the colony back to the Fire Country after tying a few loose ends here concerning the child and something that concerned a scroll. It was best if they traveled in their best condition.

The Root Agent still hadn't been too clear about their plan, and Sai had promised to be more specific after the well was made and the water distributed for the colony. Neji was looking forward to it. He was worried about home. He was worried about his family. This was probably the first time he had been away from his clan without any communication for months and he did not know how Danzo was running things in Konoha, but he hoped his Uncle and his cousins were doing all right.

He looked up just in time to see Tenten do another full turn before meeting his gaze. "Why don't you come over here and give little Valu a kiss?"

Neji grimaced and unconsciously backed away. "I'm dirty."

Tenten gave him a small smirk. "Or maybe you just don't like kids?"

Neji felt his left cheek twitch, and he could almost feel the dried up grime crack on the corner of his eye. "That's not true. I'm very popular with children," he said, feeling slightly insulted. Perhaps it was because he had not been aware that Tenten thought of him that way.

Tenten sighed as she eyed Neji with sparkling eyes. "Really now? It never really struck me you were gifted with baby-sitting. I can vaguely remember you complaining a bit when the Hokage assigned you for a three-month instructor duty in the Academy the moment you became Jounin."

Neji's jaw tightened and he felt his face heat up at the memory. Well, all right, so he did not specifically enjoy being around eight-year-olds who thought they were _'all that' _when they weren't even Genin yet. And hadn't those Inuzukas been especially rowdy? Just the memory of it made him shiver. "It depends on the child, then," he cleared his throat uncomfortably.

Tenten finally gave him a break, and she looked back down at the baby in her arms. "I was just playing with you, Neji." She nodded, then smiled as she looked back up at him. "I don't doubt you will be a very good father."

And Neji did not know which was more embarrassing; Tenten making fun of his Academy escapades, or her telling him of his potential of being a parent. He cleared his throat again, then turned away from her completely. "Have you packed your belongings?" he asked in a desperate attempt to change the subject.

"There wasn't much to begin with, so everything's sealed in scrolls. I'm planning to stock on food and water the day before Sai decides to leave. Until then, I'm just slacking off."

"And Sakura?"

That earned him a frown from Tenten. "She's been upstairs for a while now. I tried to call her down for lunch an hour ago, but she said she wasn't hungry."

Neji rubbed his chin with a finger, trying to peel off a bit of dirt off his face. "Was she sick?"

Tenten shook her head, and strangely she was back at giggling and playing with the baby again. "Oh, no, no. I doubt she is. Well… maybe a bit heartsick?"

"What?"

She giggled again. "Nothing."

Girls were a mystery. No wonder Nara Shikamaru thought they were scary. He knew better than try to understand what was going on in their heads.

* * *

She did not even know how many hours she had been staring at the scroll in her hands, but she didn't know if it had done any good with her decision. She had mastered it, if by mere theory, and it had been hard. But now the harder part still had to be done.

And that was to destroy it.

Sakura shook her head vigorously before slapping her cheeks twice. She did not enjoy the fact that one of the most precious scrolls in medical ninjutsu history had to end in her hands. Surely, now that Tsunade-sama was all right, she didn't have to get rid of it anymore, right?

_I mean, everything's going back to normal again, right?_

Sakura frowned. No, just because Tsunade-sama was back on her feet, this did not mean she had a concrete plan to overthrow Danzo. But… was _'overthrow' _the right word to use in this situation? Before they left the Leaf, Shizune had mentioned that it was Tsunade-sama's orders not to oppose Danzo, because a hidden village needed a Kage who would be able to function enough to keep any outsiders away. Sakura did not want to accept this fact before, and she was still having a hard time trying to digest it, but she knew that it was because of her personal feelings on the matter. She knew that she should trust Tsunade with her orders, but she just could not bring herself to entrust her home to a man who lurked in the shadows and struck when the Hokage and the whole village was down and defenseless.

Sai had convinced her that Danzo was not a man to leave the village hanging if ever other villages tried to invade, but she still hated the fact that she was chased away from her own village and had to go into hiding because the man wanted to get his grubby paws on someone else's scrolls.

But Tsunade-sama's orders were still _orders_. She didn't have to like anything she was required to obey. But still… having to burn the scroll was something she could not get herself to accept.

Come to think of it, she still could not accept majority of the things that were happening right now.

Although Katsuyu had already informed them of Tsunade's condition, she did not give them further follow-up orders on what they should do from then on. They still did not know where Tsunade was, what she was doing and what she was waiting for. And this did not sit well with Sakura. Now she didn't have a choice but to do as Sai had planned for them, which was to leave Gifu and set off someplace _'safer'_ for her.

The memory of Sai made her cheeks warm. Stupid, stupid Sai! Stupid Sai for confessing to her that he loved her when he obviously didn't understand what that meant. She didn't even know why it bothered her too much. She could just brush it away and pummel him till near-death for giving her a hard time but she didn't know why she could not bring herself to do so. Maybe it was because he had pointed out many times that she had a habit of covering up her weaknesses with violence. And she would rather die than admit that his confession made her weak. Because it did not!

Not really…

_Not… really…_

She felt her blush deepen.

"Argh!" she cried out in frustration and pushed the scroll aside. It rolled a few times on her mattress before falling over the edge onto the floor with a dull thud. She eyed it weakly before bending over to pick it up.

Sakura looked up when she heard footsteps. After a while, Sai's head appeared over the landing as he paused half-way up the stairs.

"Sakura," he started, tilting his head to acknowledge her before hiking up the rest of the way up into the landing. She noticed he had changed out of his dirty clothes and it looked like he had just washed and taken a bath.

Sakura didn't know what made her look away. It had been like this since Sai had declared that he loved her. And she hated it. She had been confessed to by boys before – Naruto and Lee were two of the most eccentric of them all, and handful of patients in the hospital she had tended to in the past – but for some reason Sai's silent, if anything, calm _'whatever' _face was what made him stand out among them. He hadn't even demanded an answer from her at all.

_As if he didn't care._

"Are you still mad at me?" Sai asked suddenly as he paused at the foot of her cot, those dark eyes of his trained on her intently.

It was so much like Sai to assume she was _'mad'_.

She looked down at the scroll in her hand, shook her head. "I'm not mad." In the corner of her eye she saw Sai shift his weight from one foot to another.

"You've been uncomfortable around me for a while. I don't like it," Sai said flatly as he sank down on the mattress and tried hard to meet her eye.

Gathering whatever courage she could muster at the moment, she met his gaze. Bad idea. He had that sad, puppy-dog look in his eyes that he could have learned to do from some stupid how-to magazine way back when. It was strange. It would have been easier to look away, but she couldn't. Instead she found herself probing him with her eyes. The way how his relatively longer, newly washed hair fell over his forehead, and the evident tan line peeking from underneath the loose collar of his undershirt. She had to fight the urge to reach out and touch the tip of his peeling nose. He had changed so much in the months they were in Gifu. He had become rougher. Wilder.

She had always known him to be quite refined, and seldom used his hands at anything other than painting when he was not on missions. Those hands he had resting on his knees now looked roughly battered and bruised from all the digging he had been doing over the days. All of this for the sake of their mission.

_All of this for me._

Sai reached out with one of those battered hands and traced her jaw line with a very rough finger. "I can hear you thinking. What is it?"

His finger stopped on her right cheek, and Sakura did not know what made her keep on looking at him. She could easily have brushed his hand away. She had done so, many times before, but now if anything, she felt like she was gravitating towards it.

She dropped her eyes down on the scroll in her hands. "I don't know what to do. I don't… "

The fingers on her cheek vanished and she saw them travel down her forearm to land on her hand holding the scroll. "What don't you know?"

Sakura laughed weakly and took that time to tear away her eyes from him. Her grip tightened around her scroll. "I'm not sure. A lot of things, I guess." She was not about to tell him that one of the reasons she was bothered was because he had told her he loved her. "Now that Tsunade-sama is well, I was expecting everything to go back to normal. I was expecting her to make everything better. But I'm still running."

Sai's hand immediately withdrew from hers. It was a sudden movement that it made her flinch. She was not blaming him, although the way he pulled away from her gave her the impression that he thought she was. He did not say anything.

Sakura swallowed hard. "Uhm, I mean, I understand the reason why we have to move. I know that being here endangers more people than just me. Katsuyu-sama can reach us anywhere we go anyway, so there's really no reason to stay… Uhm, you know… until after we find Valu a place to stay."

"And after you've learned your scroll." He paused, then, "_Have _you learned your scroll?"

"I have," she said in a half-whisper.

He was a bit taken aback. "You have?"

Sakura nodded. She fiddled with the scroll with her fingers then forced herself to look up at him again. She found him looking over to the window where the last rays of the sun were disappearing over the sand dunes to the west. She could make out the final lights reflecting in those dark eyes of his.

"Are you ready, then?"

Now, that was the question.

"Sai, I don't want to destroy the scrolls," she said earnestly.

That earned her a blink from him.

"You're better than that," he said, his eyes still fixed on the view outside their window. "You're better than putting your feelings over your mission."

He was just being level-headed. Orders were orders, after all. But still, it irked her. How could he say such things to her as if he knew her? He acted as if he knew her when he didn't even come close! Her grip tightened around the scroll. She should have known better than to think Sai, of all people, would understand.

This was _Sai_. He couldn't possibly understand.

He finally tore his eyes away from the window and decided to just stare down at his lap. Sakura bit down on her lower lip to keep herself from raising her voice at him. She did not want to give him the satisfaction of having made her lose her temper. Well, it wasn't as if she had been losing her temper lately. If anything, she had been avoiding encounters like these for the past days.

But right now, he was testing her patience. Or maybe she was testing _his? _

"The Hokage gave her orders. And that's what we should follow," Sai said when Sakura didn't respond.

She shook her head. "I know that. But… if we destroy it, then… it'll be all over."

She had never really considered herself sentimental when it came to material things. Ninja were trained to never get attached to ephemeral objects, and sometimes, people. Sakura had always had a problem with attachments. Letting go was something she could not do without a great deal of time and effort. Since Sai had always been aware of her feelings for a certain Uchiha Sasuke, she had been sure he would have understood.

But then that would have been asking for too much.

"Sakura," Sai said as he finally abandoned staring at other things and gave her a pointed look. "If Danzo-sama gets his hands on that scroll, _then _all will be over."

Sakura had accepted the fact that the Sixth was after her because of these scrolls. She had taken them without questioning and ran away from the Leaf in a heartbeat, but there had always been a question as to _why_ Danzo even wanted it. Another thing that bothered her was the honorific Sai had placed at the end of Danzo's name.

She could not remember a time when he had ever spoken of the Root leader. Given that she never did try to bring the subject up, but right now it made her wonder about Sai's loyalty to Tsunade. Katsuyu had warned her about Sai. The summon familiar had not specifically told her that Sai was the enemy. But she did not give her any good vibes in completely trusting him, either.

"Sai," Sakura started, and finally let go of the scroll, reaching out behind her and leaving it on top of her pillow. She quickly inched towards the Root agent in a rare display of bravery. "Sai, tell me about Danzo."

And in a rare display of emotion, Sai's eyes widened and for a minute Sakura actually thought he looked frightened. It lasted for but a second before his stoic expression returned like a veil falling over his face. "About Shimura Danzo?" he asked as he stared down at Sakura's knee which was poking his thigh. "You want to know about Shimura Danzo?"

Sakura didn't know what she was going to get from knowing about the man. It was not as if she was going to be able to make use of whatever information she was going to get from Sai. She already knew Danzo was strong without asking anyone. But there were things that were still bothering her about the man that she knew Sai would be able to enlighten her.

"Why does Danzo want this scroll?" Sakura asked. "Tsunade-sama knew he would be after it, and she asked me to run away with it."

Sai narrowed his eyes at her. "That's not the only reason why she wanted you out of the village. You've been reckless and resisted the Sixth. And that was after Tsunade-sama told you to stand down. And the Sixth wanted your head for treason. Or have you forgotten?"

Sakura was taken aback, but only slightly. Well, maybe she _had _forgotten. Just a bit. She did not back down and instead grabbed Sai's forearm. She noticed how dark he had become compared to her, whereas he used to be so pale. "But he's still after this scroll, right?"

Sai was watching the hand she had on his forearm. "Everyone who wants power would want that scroll. You of all people should know what it stands for."

Oh, she knew, all right. "It's the only Jutsu that come close to – "

"Immortality," Sai finished for her, his eyes still on the hand resting on his forearm.

"What? So Danzo wants to, like, live forever?" Sakura asked incredulously. Why was it power-crazy men desired to live till all eternity, anyway?

"It it's for the village, then yes, he wants to live forever."

Sakura's grip on his forearm slackened, then gave him a determined look. "I can't allow it."

"Then burn the scroll," Sai said simply. "Get rid of it, and we wouldn't have any more problems."

He got her. He was right. He's always been right since the very beginning of their journey together. He had accused her of wearing her heart on her sleeve, and now she could not even get rid of a single scroll because of her feelings.

Damn him.

And damn her and her stupid pride for hating him because of it.

And damn him for telling her he loved her and still act as if nothing out of the ordinary happened between them.

"That's the problem," Sakura said. "I want to keep it. If ever someone tried to take it away from me, I can protect it. I swear I can."

"Well, I don't think you can," Sai said bluntly.

Okay, now he was just insulting her. She pulled back her hand, and without thinking she sent a fist flying straight for his face.

And much to her surprise – and annoyance – he blocked it easily with a palm.

He watched her with curious eyes, and it was then did she realize that the sun had completely abandoned her in the darkened room that would be no sooner be drained of whatever warmth it had retained from the hot hours of that day. She could hear busy movement below, unmistakably Team Ten getting ready for the night. She could make out heavy footsteps making their way from one side of the clinic to another, obviously Lee lugging firewood from the entrance to the hearth. Then there was the sound of Tenten talking, followed by Neji protesting, then Valu crying.

Sakura gasped when Sai gently squeezed her fist with those rough, hard-worn fingers of his.

"You've been training hard to master that scroll almost to point of exhausting your chakra everyday, and you tell me you can protect it? From the very first time I met you, you've shown me how you can throw everything into a punch. Especially when you're angry. This was not an angry punch, Sakura. If you hesitate like this, you wouldn't be able to protect anything."

Sakura pulled her hand away quickly. "That's because… that's because it's you."

"You were pulling your punches because it was me?" Sai asked, and Sakura could make out in the dark one of his eyebrows rising. "I don't even know if that should make me happy or make me worry." He stood up and Sakura watched him make his way to the table near the window where their little oil lamp sat along with several matches. He busied himself with getting a light on before reaching over to close the window shutters.

Shadows started to dance all around Sakura as Sai hung the oil lamp on the hook over the table.

Sakura stood up from her cot. "Tell me about Danzo," she pleaded.

"I can't," was his reply.

"Why can't you?"

"Because I can't."

"Because you don't _want_ to?" Sakura accused.

"Because I _can't_." Sai turned to face her. His expression was as unreadable as always, but there was something in his eyes that she had never seen before. He looked… _disappointed_. "I'm sorry. But we have to get rid of that scroll."

"But – "

"You were ordered to do so. You've learned what's inside it. You don't need it anymore."

"But – !"

He was before her in a heartbeat. One moment he was standing by the lamp, the next he was a few inches away from her, his hands on her shoulders.

"Danzo-sama wants that scroll," Sai said as he shook her lightly. "You don't have the power to keep it away from him."

"Well, where is he?" Sakura asked, brushing him away, starting to get a bit angry. "We've been running – _I've_ been running – for three months now, and I haven't even seen a shadow of you Root scum!"

And Sai froze. The hands on her shoulders relaxed. His arms dropped to his sides and he took a step away from her.

She instantly bit her lower lip in regret. She had never known herself to be verbally abusive. Well, given that she never knew Sai to be affected by anything of the like… But still, she had not considered herself to be this… _mean_. Especially since she knew that what Sai was saying was right.

"Sakura," He said after a while. "That's our job. People from Root move behind walls, under shadows, as silently as possible. You're not supposed to see them. Not supposed to see _us. _You have to remember that they can be anywhere, all the more when we leave Gifu." He hesitated a bit, his eyes darting towards the scroll Sakura had placed on her pillow. "My mission is to protect you, but I'm just one man, and you acting like… like _this_… it worries me. We don't need the scroll. Get rid of it."

But Sakura was not Sakura if not stubborn. It was her turn to reach out and grab the front of his shirt with both hands. "I can protect it, damn it! I swear I won't be a burden to you! Once we find Valu a place to stay, we can leave as soon as you want to, but I'm leaving with the scroll intact!"

Sai watched her with slightly hooded, if not bored-looking eyes. Sai had always tried to plaster a smile on his face ever since they had first met. He was not smiling now. He seized both her wrists in one hand, shook her grip off his shirt. "Fine. If that's how you want it to be." His eyes narrowed at her and finally that missing smile crawled back onto his lips. For the first time ever, Sakura actually thought he looked menacing.

Sakura swallowed. "T-that's what I want, yes." She clenched and unclenched her hands, uncomfortably wishing Sai would let her go.

Sai continued to watch her without even moving a centimeter, that smile frozen on his face. Then, without warning, he yanked her so hard she yelled in protest and started dragging her down the stairs.

"What are you doing?" she demanded as she missed a step and hit her shin on the landing. She was not used to being manhandled like this. Sai didn't even so much as glance back at her. She watched his head bob up and down lazily as he continued down the stairs as if he wasn't dragging a girl behind him.

The other inhabitants of the house were as surprised to see them descending from the second floor. Tenten, who had one of Valu's bottle in her hand and looked like she was about to step out of the clinic, was by the back door. Neji was standing beside her, in his arms was a crying Valu. Lee was crouched down by the hearth where he had successfully lit a cheery fire. All three of them looked up when Sai started down the stairs with Sakura in tow.

"What's going on?" Tenten asked warily as she eyed the two of them the moment they stepped into the clinic.

"That's what I want to know myself," Sakura said as she tried to free herself from Sai's mean grip again. It was no use. She had been using her chakra too much to study that scroll to free herself.

Lee pointed at Sai with an accusing finger. "Let go of Sakura at once! It is obvious she is trying to resist you."

Sakura gasped when Sai finally did let her go. She scuttled as far away from him as possible before he had any other ideas of changing his mind. She took shelter behind the Healer's desk, rubbing her wrists gingerly.

Neji's pale eyes shifted from Sakura to Sai then back again. Tenten hurriedly retrieved the crying baby Valu from him, whispered something to Neji, then after giving Sai and Sakura one final worried look, hurried up the stairs to the second floor of the house.

"What's this all about?" Neji asked diplomatically.

"He was bullying Sakura just now!" Lee exclaimed.

"Lee, let me handle this," Neji said, and the Taijutsu master quickly fell silent.

Sakura opened her mouth to tell them that it was nothing but a misunderstanding, but Sai beat her to it.

"Sakura's putting her feelings over her mission," Sai said plainly, that smile not leaving his insolent mouth as he nodded at Neji.

Neji's eyebrows rose instantly, but wisely did not say anything.

"I'm telling you, I can handle it!" Sakura insisted. She shrank behind her desk when Sai's eyes trained on her. "The scroll was given to _me_. I decide what to do with it. You stick to your mission, and I'll stick to mine, all right?"

The smile on Sai's face fell a notch. "You of all people should know what Root agents can do. You've fought – and lost – to them before. And they can be anywhere once we start heading for the Fire Country. I don't think you're capable of holding your ground if you face them. And to tell you honestly, I wouldn't know what to do if by any chance we have to face Danzo-sama himself." He turned away from her.

Sakura didn't even want to know what he meant by that. She did not even realize Neji's face darkening as he crossed his arms over his chest. Perhaps she was just being stubborn, but she was not about to give up one of the most important scrolls in her craft because she was afraid she would not be able to keep an evil man's paws off of it. Perhaps it was just her childish belief that she had had enough of getting those things precious to her swept away under her nose without being able to do anything about it.

Danzo had taken away her home. She was not about to let her take _this_ from her as well.

Sucking in a breath, Sakura straightened and planted both her hands on the desk in front of her. "Sai, I want to keep the scroll. Please?" She was begging him. Why on earth did she have to beg for this?

Lee let out a strangled sound that made him seem like he was choking.

Neji sighed as he shook his head.

Sai returned his gaze to Sakura once more. But this time, the smile was completely gone. "Since you asked so nicely, then fine." He made his way across the clinic towards her, mimicked her by planting both his hands on the desk with her. "On one condition."

He was talking as he always talked, and there was nothing really intimidating by how he leaned forward close enough for her to see those bits of peeling skin on his nose. It took all the courage she could muster not to back away from him.

"W-what?" Sakura asked nervously.

"Fight me," Sai said simply.

Sakura blinked.

Lee started to choke.

Neji shook his head ruefully before he sighed again and slowly made his way up the stairs, as if saying, _'I saw this coming but I don't really care what happens afterwards.'_

"Excuse me?" Sakura asked, unable to believe what he had just told her.

"I love you," Sai said.

Lee shrieked somewhere in the background.

Sakura felt her face burst into flames. _"What?"_

Sai smiled toothily. "Fight me. Surely, you can defend a scroll from one Root agent. Prove to me you can protect that scroll and I'll leave you alone. All right?"

She did not know how to take his challenge. Shaking herself from the sudden curve ball he had just thrown at her, she nodded briskly before swallowing hard. "Bring it on."

* * *

**TBC**


	16. Behind Kisses

**Chapter Sixteen**

**Behind Kisses**

* * *

Temari had never really considered herself to be a nagger. Sometimes things went your way, sometimes they didn't. That was something she already knew and she had never complained about it much, because she had always thought that complaining was a good waste of time. That was why as she spooned food into her mouth and watched the idiot boy sitting across the table, she couldn't believe how she came so close to spouting a barrage of complaints that had been brewing in her already too full head regarding the way Shikamaru had been acting.

She did not understand what was going on with him. While normal shinobi usually thirsted for information, it seemed as if the Nara didn't want _anything _to do with what she came bearing. This was their third time out on a 'dinner date', and it felt like she had been wasting her time in giving this man a shot at something he might need to know.

Aside from the obvious indignation she felt towards him, her worry dominated everything else. He was not the same, and his teammates were starting to get nervous about his shady disposition.

Temari clicked her tongue against her teeth, pushing her bowl of untouched, soggy soba to the side and slamming her free hand against the table. Shikamaru didn't even so much as flinch, even with his glass of water nearly toppling over his edge of the table. As with the other two 'dinner dates' they've had before, Shikamaru did not order anything to eat. He just sat there, pretending to enjoy his glass of water, hands resting in front of him, fingers sometimes tapping the table. Most of the time, he would be fiddling with his lighter. He never once lit up a cigarette while they were together, but she had seen him try to reach for the pocket of his coat where he kept the horrid things.

Temari frowned. Perhaps it was time for a different, more aggressive approach. "I know where Sakura and Sai are," she suddenly blurted out.

And finally, after two dates and hours and hours of silence on their third, she finally got a reaction from him.

He nearly fell from his chain at her sudden revelation. He looked left, then right as if to check if anyone was within ears' shot. When he was sure there was no one around, he sighed in relief. His pause for a breath was but momentary, because the next moment, he was reaching out and grabbing her roughly by the collar.

"What are you – !" Temari tried to protest but Shikamaru cut her off.

"And you call yourself an ambassador of the Sand. Ambassadors don't blurt out confidential information about shinobi of a different Hidden Village," he said in a low voice that Temari hadn't heard him used before.

"Let go of me, you asshole. Or I'll break your arm," Temari said in an equally menacing voice.

Shikamaru gritted his teeth in an obvious attempt to control his temper. This seldom happened to him either; losing his cool. If anything, it made Temari worry even more. He let go of her grudgingly, cursing under his breath. "I'm done. I never want to speak to you again." And with a curse leaving his lips, he pushed back his seat and stalked away from her without another word.

Temari, for a few seconds, sat in her chair, shocked at his sudden dismissal. She instantly recovered, however, and she dug in her pocket for a few bills which she threw on the table carelessly before dashing after him, nearly stumbling on her own two feet in the process. She burst out of the restaurant wit the waitress calling out to her about her change. She looked down the street in time to see Shikamaru turning the corner two blocks away.

Temari pulled her shawl closer around her neck, cursing about the cold. Winters in Konoha were not especially bitter. It seldom snowed, and even if it did, it usually melted once the sun rose. Actually, this was probably the first times she had ever minded the cold in the Leaf. And that was probably because it was her first time to run through Konoha's streets in nothing but a frilly dress and a shawl. Given it was her idea to step out of her usual kimono because she thought it better to fit the description of 'personal acquaintance' if she weren't carrying her fan.

"Don't do this to me, Shikamaru," she called after him before bolting down the corner where Shikamaru had disappeared. "I don't know what's going on with you, but if you don't come back here this instant, I swear I will kill you."

She gasped the moment she turned the alley, because she came face to face with him, nearly running him through. He had his arms crossed over his chest, a frown pulling down at his lips, and his almost always bored expression was missing from his face.

Temari took two steps back from him, fixing her shawl self-consciously around her. She was tempted to grab him around the neck and strangling him to death, and the fact that she knew something was terribly wrong with him was the only thing that prevented her from committing murder outside her own village.

"You have absolutely no idea of the possible horrors you've caused us for saying what you've just said," Shikamaru said under his breath, looking uncharacteristically angry.

Temari raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, of course I have no idea. _Because you never tell me anything, genius." _She gestured at him in exasperation. "Look at you. You're losing your temper on me. You walk out on me in the middle of dinner. This isn't you. You _never_ lose your temper!"

This, for the first time that evening, finally got the bored reaction back on his face. The arms tightly crossed in front of him finally unwound and dropped to his sides and his mouth opened as if to say something but couldn't find the words. For a moment, Temari actually thought she had broken through him. When he turned away, she knew she was wrong.

"This is Leaf business. You don't have to get involved," he said in a small voice.

Temari narrowed her eyes at him. "What kind of half-assed excuse is that, Nara? I came here in the name of the Sand-Leaf peace treaty to aid your village when it needed us the most. The least you can do is tell me what's going on. Because you can't send me back to Gaara just for me to report how everyone's acting strange. We have Leaf ninja defecting left and right. Tsunade's nowhere to be found, Kakashi and the rest are in jail, and Naruto's missing. Now what do you want me to tell my Kage once I get back? You want me tell him that it's '_your business' _and that we don't have to '_get involved'_?"

He was not moved. Temari knew this guy. He was not an idiot, and he almost always knew what to do. In normal circumstances, she would not doubt him that whatever reason he had in keeping quiet was most probably because he had everything under control, but for some reason she knew this time around was different. She should have known something was wrong the moment Haruno Sakura had shown up in Suna with both arms broken and hardly fit for travel with only a shinobi Temari had never met before as her companion. She frowned at the memory of that dark-haired guy she was with. That Sai. He had reminded her so much of the Uchiha. She did not know why that fact made her uncomfortable.

Shikamaru hesitated a bit before shrugging off his coat and clumsily draping it over Temari's shoulders.

Temari was not impressed. "Oh, now you do this." She shrugged off his coat, and it dropped to the ground around her feet.

Shikamaru cursed and hurriedly picked it up, dusting it lightly. "Look, I appreciate the concern. But things in the village are very… fluid at the moment. And there are new rules that I'm not sure we can disclose to you yet."

Temari felt her left eye twitch in annoyance. "We are your allies. What kind of treaty do we have if we can't even trust each other?"

Shikamaru wrinkled his nose, then tried again at covering her shoulders with his coat. This time, Temari let him, all the while staring at his serious face. "This isn't about trust. This isn't about the Sand or the Leaf, and this isn't about Sakura or Sai."

"Then what the hell is it about? I can help you."

Shikamaru met her gaze, and Temari clutched his coat closer around her. She didn't know why she was offering her help to someone who didn't outright say that he needed it. She didn't know why she was putting too much effort in asking him, anyway. It was obvious he was starting to consider her as a bother.

She gritted her teeth, attempting to calm herself. "You don't want to know where Sakura and Sai are. There has to be a reason."

Shikamaru's eyes widened for a moment, then he averted his gaze, stepping away from her. "There are reasons…" He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Temari."

Temari jumped when she heard him say her name. It felt like forever since he had acknowledged her. "What?"

"There are a lot of things you might know about that I know you'd normally want me to know. But things are… not how they used to be."

Temari already knew as much. And she had a pretty good idea who the man behind it was. "Did the Hokage do something to you?" she hissed.

Shikamaru backed away from her again, as if burned.

Temari took a step towards him, grabbing at his upper arm fiercely. She had always thought that the new Hokage had been awfully shady. She had heard of the man in passing many times before, but she had never really met him until that time when he had held a banquet in their name. Shimura Danzo. She didn't like him at all. "Tell me."

Shikamaru looked left, then right, as if expecting someone to appear and club him over the head. Temari was not used to seeing him this jumpy. "Temari. Please. We can't talk about… things like these as if they were nothing." He peeled her hand from his arm, but surprisingly did not let go. Instead, he pulled her to him and wrapped an arm around her shoulder and started to lead her down the alley.

She tried to wriggle out of his arms. "What do you think you're doing, you per – "

"Someone's looking," he said, his other hand tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear as he leaned in to whisper.

Temari cursed under her breath as she sensed what he was talking about. There were three of them, up on the roof of a random house. She was not unfamiliar about them. They had been on and off her radar every time she was with Shikamaru. But it was probably the first time she could feel them actually following them. Could it possibly be that she had gotten Shikamaru in trouble because of what she had said to him earlier?

"Don't panic. This is just another forest rendezvous for another couple after a dinner date," Shikamaru said, for the first time today sounding like his old, usual self. He led her down the alley leading to the village's western outskirts, towards the training area she was familiar with right behind the Academy.

Temari could still sense the three unknown stalkers jumping from one roof to another, right on their trail. Somewhere along the way, two of the three of them fell behind, as if deciding that this did not require much man-power. She slipped an arm around Shikamaru's waist to balance herself as he quickened his pace across the Academy playground, past the monkey bars, the swing, then over the daisy patches. She could see light still turned on inside the newly rebuilt classrooms as they strode quickly through the fence separating the Academy from the open forest leading to the training grounds. The remaining stalker silently trailed after them over the shadows of the building roof and over the tree tops.

"Temari," Shikamaru suddenly said in a low voice she had to strain in order to hear. They had made it into the forest deep enough that she could barely make out the lights of the Academy behind them. The canopy above them cast dark, dancing shadows from the moon overhead and the silence was broken by nothing more than the sound of the blowing wind through the branches.

Temari looked up when she felt his grip tightened around her forearm. "What is it?" she asked.

Instead of answering her question, he rammed her against the side of the nearest tree trunk so suddenly that at first she thought he was attacking her. Out of instinct, she had grabbed his wrist to throw him over her shoulder, but he was surprisingly stronger than what she had expected of him; he had never really struck her to be good at man-to-man combat, as his kekkei genkai didn't require him to master such skill.

That was why when she felt one of his hands twisting her dominant arm and pinning it over her head against the tree behind her, she did not know what to do but gasp. The next thing that happened sent all rational thought out of her head in a heartbeat.

Because he had pressed against her body and was kissing her with so much fervency that for a moment she thought he had gone crazy. She was almost definitely convinced that he was when she felt him slip his tongue in her mouth. And she was almost about to kick him between the legs until she sensed it.

It was hardly obvious; nothing but a flicker of ominous chakra when he twirled his tongue around hers. And her eyes snapped open when she felt a chill run down her spine. At the back of her mind, she could feel their stalker disappear within the shadows when Shikamaru slipped his hand under her dress, exposing her legs to the cold night air.

Temari let out a gasp once Shikamaru pulled away from her, breathless. His hand was out of her clothes once he knew they were alone, but those always bored eyes were on her, hooded and unreadable.

She stared back at him in pure shock, and she did not know what made her reach out to touch the side of his face in horror. "He's marked you…"

She was fairly skilled with sealing jutsu, as she used quite a bit of it with her fan. But the seal he had on his tongue was… something she was not familiar with.

Shikamaru placed his own hand over hers, squeezed before letting go. He pushed away from her, and she hurriedly straightened her dress. "It's not that I don't trust you. It's just that I don't trust myself. I don't know what it does. And that's the scariest part. Ignorance is the better plan here; if I don't know anything, then there's nothing to extract. Keep what you know to yourself and leave Konoha as soon as you can before he knows that I know someone who has answers."

Temari still could not get over the knowledge that he bore a seal in his person. She had not expected anyone could hold him down long enough to brand him. But here he was, looking down at her with those lost eyes.

"I-I can get help!" she stuttered, not sounding as confident as she would have liked.

Shikamaru smiled down at her. He reached towards her, and she flinched when she thought he was going to touch her chest. She suddenly felt like an idiot when his fingers plucked the packet of cigarettes from the pocket of the coat she had around her shoulders. "I'll keep that in mind. But in the meantime, I want you out of here and away from him." She watched his hands shakily pull out a cigarette from its packet and placed it between his lips. He had his trusty lighter in his hand and was lighting up, as he always did when he tried to avoid a conversation.

Temari scowled at him, and she could have come up with a million things to say to him at that moment, but she could not bring herself to talk. Her throat had closed up on her, and for a moment she thought she was going to cry. She hated the feeling of being this helpless. She pulled back her hand and slapped him across the face hard. The cigarette flew out his mouth and onto the ground a few feet away from them.

"You'd better not do anything idiotic until I come back, you hear?" she said loudly, her voice cracking. She did not bother to look at his face. She hurled his coat over his head before bolting out of the forest as fast as her legs could carry her.

She was in and out of her hotel room in record time, dressed in her traveling clothes and her rucksack and fan strapped over her shoulder. She could not believe how upset she was. The feeling worsened when she got to the gates of the village only to find an ANBU with a porcelain cat mask blocking her way. Temari could tell the ANBU was female, her dark, straight hair falling past her waist.

"Let me through," she said slowly, trying her best not to lose her temper.

The woman did not move, but was decent enough to talk. "The village is under lockdown, Temari of the Sand. I cannot let you pass."

Temari opened her mouth to argue, but was suddenly interrupted when another figure appeared out of nowhere in a puff of smoke.

"Kakashi?" Temari and the ANBU female both said at the same time.

"Yo, Yugao," Kakashi said casually as he dusted his pants lightly with one hand. His one practical eye turned to Temari in slight surprise. "And what are you doing here at this time of night?"

Temari's jaw dropped in shock. "I should be asking you the same thing. I thought you were in jail!"

Kakashi's eyes closed pleasantly as he smiled a hidden smile behind his mask. "So I was. Am. Was. Whatever. I'm here because Shikamaru asked me two favors for tonight. And I was feeling up to it so I said, what the hey?"

Temari felt her face grow hot at the mention of Shikamaru. "So… what? You're going to let me pass?" Her eyes shifted from Kakashi to the ANBU, Yugao was it?

Yugao slowly pulled her mask off and cupped it at the side of her head. Those chocolate brown eyes were on Kakashi worriedly. "That's not fair, Kakashi. You only talked to me about letting people _in_. We never had an agreement about letting people _out_."

Kakashi shrugged offhandedly and Temari's ears perked up at what she just heard.

"Are you expecting someone?" she asked warily, hoping to take the chance in getting as much information back to Gaara before she left.

Kakashi nodded at her. "Yes, I am, actually. They should be here any moment. Our beloved Hokage are expecting them, actually. Shikamaru was the one who was supposed to meet them, but our little war strategist is a bit… _tongue-tied _at the moment. Danzo-sama doesn't know I'm playing proxy, of course."

Temari swallowed hard. Just the thought of the seal on Shikamaru made her skin crawl. She was going to ask Kakashi again if he was going to let her out when she heard footsteps making their way through the trees towards the open gates of the village. They did not look like they were being totally discrete about their coming.

"Will you shut up already?" came a female voice in the distance.

A male voice answered her. "But no, really. Aren't you worried? What if… what if this Byakugan offer is a trap? What if this new Hokage dude is lying to us about peace between the Leaf and the Cloud? Then we'd be walking right into their hands, and we'll be helpless. What if they take us hostage and Killer B-san would have to come rescue us, then he – OW! Why'd you hit me, Karui?"

"Because you're an idiot, Omoi. Now shut up."

Kakashi's visible eye twinkled in anticipation and Yugao slipped her mask back on when two figures broke out of the clearing. One was a dark-skinned man with spiky white hair. He was rubbing the top of his head gingerly. Right beside him was an equally tan woman with long, fizzy hair and amber eyes. Both of them were wearing the definitive Kumo flak jacket, and they looked worse for wear.

"Aren't you supposed to be somewhere else?" Kakashi asked Temari so suddenly that Temari jumped in her place. Kakashi was not looking at her, but was now waving lightly at the two new-comers.

Temari looked over at Yugao warily.

Yugao crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't know you. I never saw you. I know nothing."

Temari swallowed hard, thought for a moment before finally nodding. She bowed her head to Kakashi, then to the ANBU before dashing out of the gates, past the Cloud nin, who didn't so much as cast her a glance.

* * *

The desert was, as always, close to freezing that night when Sai found himself crouched down a low rock formation as he waited patiently for Sakura's second wave of attacks. This was probably the most boring fight he has ever had in his career as a ninja. One, because Sakura's attacks were always too easy to read. And two, because Sakura's chakra reserves were just too low to make it interesting for him. This had always been his observation regarding her fighting style; she was strong, yes. Stronger than any female in her batch. But if her attacks didn't hit their target, then it meant absolutely nothing. Of course, Sai wasn't the one to complain; he had always believed that Sakura was a born to be a healer and not a fighter.

Which brought him back to the question as to why he even picked a fight with her. Perhaps a part of him hadn't expected her to take up the offer.

"It's not too late to stop this stupid spar," Neji said as he suddenly appeared beside him. The Hyuuga and Tenten had been watching their little fight from a safe distance, once in a while coming over between open intervals to talk them out of it. "She won't last five more minutes with the rate she's using her chakra. I'm surprised you're letting her do this to herself."

Sai looked down at the scroll and calligraphy brush he had in his hands and shrugged. "This is none of your business."

Neji scowled at him. "She could die. And I doubt you'd want that, right?"

Sai raised his gaze at him, dark eyes meeting white ones. "My life lost before hers. It's my mission. She will not die while I'm still breathing."

"Then end this. She's changing the landscape around the area too much."

"We're miles from Gifu. It's fine. No one would know."

"That's not the point."

Sai flashed the Hyuuga a bland smile. "The scroll she insists on keeping will be trouble if she brings it with us. She has to burn it before we leave the colony. Those were her orders from Tsunade-sama, and for good reason."

Neji frowned at him, unconvinced. "Look, I don't know what her orders are. I don't know what mission you two have and what kind of love-hate relationship you have with her. If you're so determined to get rid of that scroll, just take it away from her by force; she's weak enough. You don't have to beat her down to do so."

Sai shook his head. No, he just couldn't take the scroll away from her without her consent. "She'd hate me if I do that."

Neji stared at him in disbelief. "Hate you? It doesn't matter if she hates you for it. If you think that it's the best decision, then do it. It's the quickest solution."

Sai knew he was right. Perhaps if this had happened before he had realized that he had feelings for her, then maybe he wouldn't be hesitating about robbing her of her scroll and burning the blasted thing into ashes. But now…

Now, things were different. He had no idea if this was the proper way of getting on her good side, but he was pretty sure taking the scroll away from her by force was just… well, a bad way of wooing her.

"I hope you know what you're doing," Neji said.

Sai pulled open the ink cartridge hidden within one of his scrolls. "What are you saying? Of course I don't know what I'm doing," he muttered absent-mindedly. He had never been in love before, and so he did not know if his decisions were the best choices for Sakura. He knew that she wanted to keep the scroll, and he knew that they wouldn't be having this fight in the first place if he just let her have her way. But the shinobi in him knew that she would be better off without it. They _all_ would be better off without it.

Neji's head shot up, the veins around his eyes prominent as he activated his Byakugan. "She's coming."

And before Sai could even react, Sakura came flying overhead, letting out an angry cry as her fist came down on the rock formation Sai and Neji were using as a hiding place. It sent the two of them scattering into opposite directions as the world around them exploded under Sakura's super-human attack. Sand rained everywhere. During the commotion, he had lost Neji as well as Sakura's visual. He looked left, ducked to the side and waited for another attack from Sakura, because she always followed one strike with another, with the hopes of using the chaos she had created to hide her next move.

And as expected, she came zooming towards him through the screen of sand all around them, a gloved fist ready over her right shoulder, and a determined look on her dirt- streaked face.

It was easy to dodge her. A simple body-flicker technique at the right moment and Sakura was pummeling his clone into a messy puddle of black ink, which was instantly absorbed by the sand underneath them. Sai leaped away from her into a relatively safer distance, landing on a flat rock a few feet away behind Sakura.

Sai frowned when he saw that Sakura was breathing hard. Her shoulders were slumped as she looked left, then right, attempting to find where he had disappeared to. It took her longer than she usually did to finally realize Sai was right behind her. She bared her teeth at him like an angry cat, but Sai was not surprised when she did not run to him and launch a barrage of punches his way; she looked very, very tired.

Neji and, surprisingly, Tenten, came out of nowhere and were between Sai and Sakura in a heartbeat. While Neji looked like he was angry, Tenten looked absolutely amused.

"You've been going on with this for forty five minutes," the weapons mistress mused. "The moon's up. It's getting late. Let's call it a night, okay?"

Sakura wiped at her mouth with the back of her gloved hand. "Get out of the way."

Neji's face went grim. "There are better things you can do with your time than brawl like genin. If we're leaving the colony at the end of winter, we should start getting ready."

Sai hopped down from his rock, all the while keeping his eyes keen on Sakura in case she tried anything funny. "We're not leaving unless I make sure you're done with that scroll."

Tenten wrinkled her nose. "Look, I don't even know why the two of you are obsessed over something as trivial as this scroll."

Sai narrowed his eyes at Tenten. "Do you even know what kind of scroll we're talking about here?"

Tenten shrugged off-handedly. "Are you really asking me that? Because I'd have you know that I know every single thing about Tsunade-sama and her jutsu. That's one big-ass scroll, the creation rebirth. But what I don't get is why do you have to fight over it?"

Sakura inched sideways, a motion Sai caught in the corner of his eye. "I want to keep it."

Sai flipped his scroll in his hand, anticipating a surprise attack from Sakura. "Katsuyu-sama's orders were clear and final. Master the scroll and get rid of it. What is it in those instructions that you don't understand?"

"Destroying the scroll is a precautionary measure to keep it out of the hands of people like your stupid Root boss," Sakura snapped. "We don't have to destroy it as long as it doesn't fall in the wrong hands."

Sai sighed, the unfamiliar feeling that he had started to feel quite a lot lately when it came to Sakura bubbling up his gut as he watched the pink-haired kunoichi shift her weight from one foot to another, as if looking for her center. Neji was right about her; she did not look like someone who was fit for roughing it in the night desert. He was worried, that was for sure. Perhaps he should take up Neji's suggestion and just steal the scroll from her instead of beating her in a fight which she would obviously lose.

Tenten crossed her arms over her chest as she looked over to Sakura, then to Sai, then to Neji. "Neji, let's stop butting in. I mean, it's obvious they're not going to listen."

Neji's Byakugan-enhanced eyes were watching Sakura intently. "Your chakra's low, and you're physically tired. You're the healer here. You know what that means."

Sakura's determined look faltered for a moment before it was back again, and she clenched and unclenched her hands. "Thank you, Neji, Tenten. But I'm worried that you left Valu with Lee. Can you make sure he doesn't overwhelm the baby?"

Neji frowned. "Sakura," he said warningly.

Tenten touched Neji's arm gently. "We're not wanted here. Let's just butt out of their business, Neji."

Neji hesitated for but a short moment before sighing. "Fine. But I hope you know what you're doing," he said, directing it to Sai.

Sai blinked when Tenten suddenly approached him, slung an arm over his neck and dragged his head down next to hers. "We'll leave you alone. But, if you push her beyond her limits, or if I see at least one single unnecessarily inflicted wound on her body later, I will break that pretty boy face of yours into itty-bitty little pieces. Do you hear me?"

Sai raised an eyebrow, not the least bit intimidated. Did she just call him a pretty boy? "Loud and clear."

Tenten released him, satisfied. Then, she said, "If you want to win her over, you have to stop treating her like some obstacle in a mission."

That caught Sai's attention. "I don't consider her an obstacle."

Tenten did not look too convinced. "I find that hard to believe. You talk to her like it's her fault if your mission failed."

"I'm doing this for her safety. Surely you agree with me about the scroll, right?"

Tenten scratched her head tentatively. "To tell you honestly, if it were me, I'd have gotten rid of it the moment she'd mastered it."

"I knew it."

"But Sakura and I are different. There are things that she values that matter little to me, and vice-versa." Tenten looked over to Neji, who was jerking his head towards the distant colony, as if telling her to hurry. "Look, this isn't the place to talk about this. Just settle this as peacefully as you can, and come home. Alright?"

Sai nodded slowly. "We'll try to hurry back."

And Tenten and Neji were gone, leaving Sai and Sakura in the middle of the many, many holes Sakura had pummeled into the landscape.

Sakura was leaning slightly to the left, and she was panting heavily. At the back of his mind, an image of Tenten with a heavy-looking mallet appeared and he decided that perhaps he should take the weapons mistress' threat seriously. It had been his plan to just wait until Sakura gave up on her own, but it looked like she was going to be stubborn about this. Chances were, she would rather choose to use up her chakra reserves and die in the process than let him have her precious scroll.

Sai looked down at the scroll and brush in his hands then sighed as he returned his gaze back to a wary-looking Sakura. She looked paler than he would have normally liked under the dim light of the crescent moon hanging in the night sky, but for some weird reason he couldn't explain why he thought that she had never looked this pretty to him. He nodded at her, and she backed off a step.

"Let me tell you a few facts, Sakura," he said. "You can't win against me. You may be stronger than me, but you're never, ever going to be faster than I am. I'm well-rested, and I can keep dodging your punches until morning." He twirled his brush around his thumb thoughtfully. "I can snatch that scroll from under you nose in a blink of an eye. And I will do it if necessary if it means keeping you safe. So I suggest you give up right now, conserve your energy and let's go back to the colony before anyone knew any better."

Of course, Sai was not expecting Sakura to agree to his proposal. She had always been very stubborn when it came to his plans to protect her, and he knew that she was going to be especially adamant about him disposing of her precious scroll. She forced herself to stand straighter.

"I can take you on, with a hand tied behind my back," she said. She was obviously bluffing. Sai could see the uncertainty in her eyes.

Sai looked up at the sky and sighed when a cluster of wispy clouds floated over the moon, bathing the desert in shadows. Perhaps if he were a bit better when it came to feelings and putting those feelings into words, he could have convinced Sakura to give up the scroll without hurting her. But then again, he had always been trained to get things done by stealth, and sometimes by force. Danzo never trained him to _negotiate _his way into things and he doubted he would be good at it even if he tried. Perhaps, if he was not convinced that he loved Sakura to the point of tolerating her temporary idiocy, then he would probably have had the scroll burning in the hearth _yesterday_. He sighed again. These feelings were making him weak.

"I can protect it, I promise," she suddenly said, making Sai look at her again.

She had taken a step forward, but did not look like she was about to attack him anytime soon. She was still determined; a trait that was tiring Sai already. He honestly thought that he could use this time on finding Valu a guardian so that they could hurry up with the move, but instead he had to put up with _this_.

Sai smiled again, and he knew that smile did not convince Sakura at all. He unrolled the scroll in his hands, and with a flick of a wrist, two ink lions were pouncing at Sakura with deafening roars.

Sakura was late to react, but was able to avoid the paw of one of his ink summons before ramming her fist against the other, which exploded in a shower of dark liquid. Sakura staggered before leaping back to maintain distance with the remaining lion and taking refuge behind another mound of rock. Sai knew she was already grasping at straws. She had spent a great amount of chakra on that one blow, and now she did not even have much left to even sense Sai had suddenly appeared behind her. Sai had her back against a boulder with both her wrists pinned over her head with one hand, his other hand holding a kunai against her thin neck before she could even let out a gasp.

Sai looked down at her tunic, where he knew she always kept the two scrolls from Tsunade as of late. He should rip her clothes open, take the necessary scroll and dispose of it before she could recover. And he could easily have done it. The remaining ink summons was lazily circling them, as if ready to attack if anything went wrong. He knew he had won.

But that was until he looked at her face, and he saw that she was crying. With a one-handed gesture, he released his summons, and the lion disappeared in a puddle of ink on the sand.

When Sai had first met Sakura, he had always thought her to be quite difficult to understand. She cried when she was happy, and cried when she was sad, and cried even when she was angry. She came close to physical abuse to show you she cared, and covered her rage behind smiles that looked absolutely sincere. She shed her tears for Naruto when elated. And shed tears for Uchiha Sasuke for a reason that was a mystery to him.

What did her tears mean right now, he wondered.

It was strange; she was just not a pretty crier. Her tears were now mingling with the dirt on her face, leaving grey streaks down her cheeks. Her chin was dimpled as she tried to hold back sobs, as if that would be enough to save even a bit of what was left of her pride.

Sai examined her face intently, then asked the only question that had been bothering him for a while now. "Why are you so desperate in holding onto people and things that do no good for you?"

He could have meant a lot of things with what he had said. Sakura had always had weird fixations on objects that did her harm.

The scroll.

Gifu.

_Uchiha Sasuke. _

Sai just did not understand her.

Sakura took in a deep breath and tried her best meet his gaze head-on. The tears were still flowing freely down her face, and a bit of mucus was trailing down her nose to her mouth. "You… you have a book," she suddenly said.

Sai blinked, admittedly caught off-guard. "What?"

"You have a sketchbook. You always carried it around with you when you joined Team Kakashi," she said, sniffing loudly. "You've been working on it since your childhood, because you wanted to give it to your brother. You never got to finish it, and he died even before you were able to complete your art. But you kept the book with you even when you could have just thrown it away. Why?"

Sai raised an eyebrow. "Because it wasn't going to get me killed if I had it with me. I know what you're trying to say. But this and that are completely different things."

Sakura shook her head stubbornly as she tried to wriggle out of his grasp. "No, they're the same thing. You could have always done away with it; it concerned _nothing _of your mission. But you had it in your bag with you all these years because it symbolizes what you've always believed in. And although you've denied it ever since I've known you, you _did _believe that you and your brother had a bond. You _do _have feelings!"

Sai frowned at himself more than at her. That book was saved from Pain's attack because he did have it with him when he had been away from the village on a mission with Anko. She was right that it mattered to him. At first, it had just been something he carried out of habit, but the meaning behind it didn't really dawn in on him until Naruto had pointed it out. He looked down at Sakura intently. "And what does this scroll Tsunade-sama gave you mean? What does it symbolize?"

Sakura swallowed hard, blinked a few last tears before saying, "It symbolizes what _I _believe in. And I believe that I don't have to destroy things because of fear of having someone take it away from me. Because I _will _fight for it. With my life, if I have to." And as if to punctuate what she had just said, Sai saw a ghost of a violet rhombus flicker on her forehead before it was gone once more, as if it never were there. She had said that she had mastered the scroll in theory, but was still having problems with its execution. It looked like she was getting the hang of it, though.

Sai gently let her wrists go, and his kunai was back under his robes in a blink of an eye. Sakura's eyes widened at him, as if surprised that he had released her. She slumped against the rock behind her, her wobbly knees barely holding her up.

Sai hoped he was not making a mistake in this decision. He nodded at her. "Will keeping the scroll make you happy?"

Sakura bit her lower lip, glanced quickly at her feet, then at Sai's face. "You trusting me to be able to protect it… will make me happy."

Sai paused a moment, juggling more pros and cons in his head. In the corners of his mind, he knew that this was the wrong decision. But then why was his heart telling him otherwise? He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "If that's what you want, fine. If that's what's going to make you happy."

And that was when Sai knew he had fallen in deep. Because a mere smile, a tear or a frown from Sakura had started to affect his judgment in a way he usually wouldn't have allowed. But when Sakura threw her arms around his neck and buried her face against his shoulder, he couldn't understand why he felt absolutely fulfilled.

"Thank you," she sobbed against the crook of his neck. "I won't let anyone have it. I swear."

Sai, for a moment, did not know what to do. It took him a few moments to decide that returning the embrace was probably the proper thing to do. He slipped is arms around her waist, hugging her thin frame to his and resting his chin on top of her head. He noticed a few grains of sand dusting her hair, and he reached up and brushed them away gently. "I trust you."

She pulled away from him slightly, her arms still draped over his shoulders lightly, and her green eyes scanned his own as if trying to find out if he was telling the truth. "Thank you." And that was when she smiled at him. And that was probably the first time since they came to Gifu did she actually smile up at him genuinely.

And as everything she did affected him to the extremes, he did not know what had caused him to throw caution into the wind, because one moment he was looking down at her, and the next thing he was leaning down and pressing his mouth against hers in a very clumsy kiss, making his own knees weak.

She froze in her place for the briefest of seconds before she relaxed in his arms. It was a miracle that she did not even try to pull away. Instead he felt her kissing him back.

And to think he was expecting her to clobber him.

* * *

Tenten let out a small yelp the moment Sai leaned down and kissed Sakura right on the lips and she hurriedly ducked back in the rock formation they were hiding behind. She looked over to her right to see Neji deactivating his Byakugan and blushing furiously at what he had just seen.

"I told you we should have left them alone," he said, rubbing his mouth with the back of his hand self-consciously.

Tenten imitated his actions, feeling her own face warm up. "How was I to know it was going to end in _that?"_

Neji thought it wise not to answer that. He leaned his head back against the rock and looked up at the sky. "I guess they came up with a compromise."

Tenten nodded. For some reason she knew that Sakura was going to win. Sai had always denied that he didn't have the capability to feel, but it was obvious that majority of his decisions have started to revolve around Sakura lately. Given that he had already told Tenten once that he loved Sakura, she knew that she had doubted him for a minute. But now that he had just sacrificed a big risk on his mission must mean that he was telling the truth. If it were Tenten, she knew she would have done it differently. But then again, _she _was not in love with Sakura, so…

"I should get our provisions ready. We could be leaving any day now," Tenten said, falling back on her behind as she followed Neji's gaze and smiled as the moon popped out of the clouds once more.

"Finding Valu a guardian is next in our priorities," Neji reminded her.

Tenten sighed, remembering the events of the solstice and the death of Riho. She knew that it was wisest for both parties that they left Gifu as soon as possible. News about a healer in Gifu was the reason why those men had attacked the colony. The Noa girl had a right to be mad at them, and now that Sai had actually killed a man while posing as a citizen of Gifu, Tenten had started to wonder of the consequences it would bring the colony. It could either have driven the attackers away in fear, or they could retaliate in revenge sooner or later.

Neji watched her in the corner of his eye, then, as if knowing what she was thinking, he said, "Sai, Lee and I have talked about the attackers."

Tenten blinked at him in surprise. "What are you planning?"

Neji stood up, dusted his trousers and started to walk towards the direction of the colony. "We're not going to leave Gifu in the hands of people who could bring them more grief than what we're already caused. It's the least we can do to repay their hospitality."

Tenten scrambled to her feet and hurried after him. "You're going to hunt them down?"

Neji nodded. "It wouldn't take more than two days, so long as I'm there, we can find them in no time."

Tenten laughed excitedly. "Yay! I'm coming, too!"

Neji stopped in his tracks. "No. You'll stay in the colony and get ready for our departure. And help Sakura pack."

Tenten pouted at him. "You're such a wet blanket." She did not argue further, though. She knew better than to contradict Neji; it would lead to a very long talk about leadership, subordination and prioritization. And she was not in the mood to listen to his litany.

Neji nodded, satisfied. "Now that things are settled with Sakura, we can finally move along with other things." He gave Tenten a one-sided smile. "The moment," he said. "Starts now."

* * *

_A/N: It's been a year since I've updated this. Sorry for the wait. Most of you might have already forgotten what has happened in the last chapters, but I couldn't blame you. A different fandom had me occupied, but I've finally finished loose ends there and I'm back to my OTP. I've finally moved along with the plot, and you might notice some happenings that would overlap with canon from now on. Of course, I've already mentioned that this is AUish, but you'll see the reason why I've decided to incorporate the events in the manga as the story goes along. _

_Anyway, I hope you stick to me again till the end. It's going to be quite a long ride._


	17. Where You Are

**Chapter Seventeen**

**Where You Are**

* * *

It was Shimura Danzo's first time to actually see the seasons change in his own village. When he was young, he hadn't given a care about his surroundings, and by the time his career in Root had risen into flight, he had taken to the darkness of the underground chambers of the Leaf, away from the trees and everything that was aesthetically pretty the village could offer. He could not have cared any less and now it was strange how he found himself trying very hard to make everything look beautiful once more. If it were up to him, he would have stuck to the basics; the Hokage Compound, the water tower, the academy, the hospital and the artillery warehouse.

But the last thing he wanted was to have the people compare him to the Third; Sarutobi had always valued beauty. And Danzo did not want to be inferior because of something as trivial as _that_.

It was still early in the morning, and the chill winter dawn brought was still crisp in the air when Danzo decided to do a few rounds in the village proper. The new hospital was opening today, and he had decided that it was the Hokage's job to see things went well. Of course, he did not doubt his subordinates – things were going so well for the last months that he knew things could only get better – yet, he believed that he needed to make his presence known once in a while in case people start to doubt him. Although he already knew that more than a handful never believed him in the first place.

Like, for example, Yamanaka Ino.

Right now, the girl's arms were full of red and white roses which she carried across the newly built Konoha Hospital's lobby. She, along with a number of other kunoichi were shuffling around the building for last minute preparations before the grand opening, hauling flowers, decorations and boxes of papers and medicine here and there.

Danzo found himself watching Yamanaka Ino intently. Of all the shinobi in the village, this girl was probably the only one who dared oppose him openly.

Aside from Haruno Sakura.

The Yamanaka girl looked over her shoulder and the smile on her face vanished almost instantly the moment those blue eyes met Danzo's one-eyed stare. Yes, Ino and Sakura were 'friends', or so he had heard. He had thought about the possibility many times before, of the Yamanaka knowing about the Haruno's whereabouts. He didn't know what had prevented him from… _interrogating _her. Perhaps it was because of the claws that kept on popping out of her fingers if he tried to get too close. Not that he cared much, but Danzo was never too tolerant when it came to feisty, angry young women.

"What do you want?" Ino suddenly demanded, hugging the flowers to her chest as if to use them as a shield. The other nurses who happened to be passing by stopped in their tracks for a second before hurrying away as if they did not just hear Ino raise her voice at the Hokage.

Well, her spunk was something he could give her credit for.

Danzo eyed her, feeling slightly bored. One could only be too patient with snippy little girls. "You are coming with me," he said slowly.

Ino took a giant step backwards. "No," she said shortly.

Danzo did not take no for an answer. He was the _Hokage_. And he was most certainly sure that Sarutobi Hiruzen hadn't gotten no's for answers, either.

Ino narrowed her eyes at him when he didn't say anything. "To where?" she asked warily.

Danzo could only blink. "A walk before the hospital opens. It would only take a few minutes."

Ino practically crushed the flowers to her, and red and white petals rained down around her feet. Her eyes darted from one corner of the lobby to another. "You're alone. Where are your stupid lackeys?"

Danzo was not fazed. Yamanaka Ino had always been like this towards him. As if her attitude was going to intimidate him. He could crush her like a fly if he chose to. "I do not need protection within my own village. Do not underestimate me." He turned his back to her and moved towards the door. He heard Ino follow behind him shortly. He passed Shizune and Yamato by the entrance, both of them giving Ino wide-eyed stares of wariness and disbelief. Danzo ignored them both, at the same time ignoring the fact that Yamato's jacket was casually draped over Shizune's shoulders, covering her flimsy white tunic dress code. He felt his one bandaged eye twitch irritably, and he breezed out of the hospital with the Yamanaka behind him. He caught a glimpse of Ino shoving the now deformed bouquet of flowers into Shizune's arms before hurrying after him.

"What do you want from me?" Ino asked once they turned the corner.

Danzo squinted when a bit of sunlight hit him in the face and he conveniently stepped under a shadow of a tree. Though he had always been known for his direct approach on things, he could not help but take his time with this child. He felt his lips pull at his face muscles into a tight smile. "Once, when I was just a bit older than you are now, I had a dream."

Ino, obviously taken off-guard at his sudden introduction, clenched and unclenched her fists warily. Once again, Danzo's right eye rolled in its socket from under those bandages, and he immediately discovered several kunai tucked under a holster hidden beneath the girl's skirt. She did not look like she was going to reach for her weapons, and he did not feel threatened at the possibility of her using it. His right arm started to itch. He started to wonder if the time to finally remove his arm braces was coming to a close, but he could only brush the idea quickly. He did not need to show his cards to anyone yet, and if he were ever to make his true self known to a third party, then it would have to be because of the village.

Everything, after all, was for the village.

"I had wanted to be Hokage," Danzo continued, his practical exposed eye roaming the leaves of the tree he was under in. "I had loved the village as much as I love it still, and what better way of showing your love to it than serving as its leader."

Ino scowled at him. "I know about Hokage dreams. I heard many stories about the Third being appointed by the Second as his heir, and I heard of the Third choosing the Fourth as his successor. When the Fourth and Third died untimely deaths, we had Master Jiraiya bring back a worthy replacement, and that was Tsunade-sama," Ino snarled. "The Hokage title is something you _receive_. Not something you _steal_."

Danzo's grin broadened, and he never took his eyes off of the leaves overhead. "The Hokage title is not a gift, foolish girl. It is a _prize_. A _trophy_. Do not speak as if you know anything about it; you are a hundred years too young to understand. The title belongs to anyone who can serve the village and make sure it prospers. _I_ am that person. And because of me and my love for the village, we have Konoha rising from the ashes of death and destruction."

Ino gritted her teeth, obviously trying to hold back the words from spilling from her mouth. She turned away, and Danzo took this chance to ask her.

"Matters regarding the village renovations have finally slowed down, but other hidden villages hunger for supremacy over ours. There will come a time when enemies will attempt to overthrow us once more." He shifted his weight from one foot to another, then finally gave Ino a piercing stare. "And when that time comes, I will do everything in my power to protect it, since it is what a Hokage must do."

Ino would not meet his eyes, and she crossed her arms over her chest, looking bored. "This has nothing to do with me. I can care less about your self-proclaimed loyalty to the Leaf, and personally I don't understand why you're telling me this."

Danzo's grin faltered a bit. "We cannot afford to have Hokage dying like flies when some enemy tries to invade the village. We have history of Hokage losses that put Konoha to shame, with them having to sacrifice their life in order to accomplish a feat that would only leave the village in turmoil." His smile disappeared completely. "And the only way to achieve that is to obtain a certain scroll."

That was when Ino finally turned to face him, blue eyes wide with an emotion Danzo couldn't quite decipher. "The Creation Rebirth?"

Danzo nodded. "I see you've been keeping up with your lessons, child."

"Don't mock me. Everyone knows of Tsunade-sama's jutsu." Ino sneered. "But you can't have it. It's not yours."

"Well, you are right that I cannot have it. Because it isn't in the village at the moment. It's gone. The princess made sure that I don't get my hands on it before she up and ran away with the Uzumaki child." He gave Ino a nod, and said, "Haruno Sakura is in possession of the scroll, along with a summoning scroll that may come in handy when the time comes."

And that was when Yamanaka Ino finally showed an emotion that was not anger, disgust or repulsion. She looked positively happy as she smiled at him. "I don't know where she is. And even if I did, I'd rather die a slow and painful death than tell you."

And for the first time in three months, Danzo felt a bit irritated. He was never keen when it came to people laughing at his misfortunes. "My pupil is with her. Even if you do not tell me, she will come back to the village and deliver that scroll to me, if it takes having to come home _dead._"

Ino did not look too worried. She laughed, throwing her head back happily. "I heard from Kakashi-sensei. The pupil who's with Sakura is none other than Sai. That guy is a friend to Naruto. He's _Team Seven!_ You can't possibly think he's going to betray her." She stared Danzo up and down with a broad grin on her face. "Knowing Sai, they're probably half-way across the world, as far away from you as possible."

Danzo could only tilt his head slightly. "We will see, child."

"Oh, you bet we will, _Hokage-sama_," Ino said. "But I'm going to have to tell you that you will be disappointed. Very disappointed."

"I have never been disappointed by my subordinates before. And I do not think I will be disappointed anytime soon."

Ino sneered, giving Danzo a lingering look. "Don't get your hopes up."

"You talk as if you know my pupil."

"I may not know Sai well, but I know Sakura. And she will never, ever get caught."

This was starting to sound like a threatening contest. It was strange. Danzo found the fact that Ino had little sense of danger quite entertaining. Didn't she know he was capable of ending her existence in a blink of an eye?

Interesting indeed.

One of these days he was going to have to find more time with the Yamanaka child in the near future. He used his good hand to fix his kimono. "The Hospital calls for you, Yamanaka-dono."

Ino rolled her eyes, turned on her heels and walked away stiffly. She wisely did not say anything. Danzo could not help but grin to himself. So she believed that Sai was actually on their side. He felt his right arm twitch from under his braces, feeling his secrets swirling within their sockets restlessly.

* * *

Kiba was being restless. Inuzuka were never trained to – and Kiba believed that they were just physically incapable of – waiting patiently. Months away from home and his family were taking its toll on him, and he was starting to believe that they were waiting in vain for Naruto or Tsunade to declare that they had a concrete plan to take back their Village from Shimura Danzo. Naruto had done nothing for the past weeks but sit on his ass, looking out of the balcony of Konan's tower, once in a while getting up only for meals, toilet breaks and talks with Hinata.

Kiba frowned. Those two had started getting all buddy-buddy ever since Tsunade regained her bearings, and it did not take a genius to know that something had changed. He didn't really care exactly _what _that change was; it was making Hinata happy, and that was all there was to it. But he was really hoping that it had something to do with _something_ that involved getting out of the Hidden Rain. It had been too long.

It had been too _very_ long.

"You know it would not be a good idea to interrupt him," Shino said in a low voice, suddenly appearing behind him.

Kiba cursed under his breath before turning to face his teammate. He hadn't realized that he had been standing behind that pillar to watch Naruto sit on his place once again that very rainy day. Kiba had always been tempted to grab the Uzumaki around the scruff of his neck and shake him senseless. There had always been one thing or another that kept him from doing what he wanted.

"This is pointless," Kiba said bitterly, rubbing his nose with the back of his hand as he stepped away from the pillar and proceeded back into the inner chamber of Konan's tower. It had been a week and a half since Tsunade had regained her usual self, and three days since that purple rhombus had reappeared on her forehead. Kiba had expected progress. And he was starting to get utterly frustrated from all the waiting and sitting around.

Shino followed him, keeping the distance between them. He was probably expecting Kiba to lash out at him. The Aburame knew him all too well. But right now, Kiba did not have even an iota of energy to get angry. They silently sat down on their respective sleeping bags arranged around a nearly extinguished bonfire where Akamaru was curled opposite them, snoring soundly. As of late, the nin dog had been the level-headed one between the two of them. Akamaru had done everything he could to keep out of the humans' way, running errands when asked and providing game from the outer forests of the village, bringing home the occasional rabbit, and if lucky, some deer.

Kiba fell back on his sleeping bag, his hands behind his head. He had spent too many long hours every day looking up at that moldy ceiling, and he was starting to get really sick of it. But he guessed the fact that he knew there wasn't anything he could do was what was making him bristle all over. They had been robbed of their homes, of their village. And it had been a man from the same village that had pulled the rug from under them.

Kiba had never really known much about Shimura Danzo, but he knew him enough to know that he did not like him. The Inuzuka were loyal to Konoha ever since it was founded. It had always been about Konoha, and the fact that what he used to know about the village his clan was loyal to was now constantly changing, he was starting to lean towards the only unchanging thing about Konoha; and that was Naruto.

Too bad Naruto was having the time of his life pretending to be a rock.

Shino remained standing, hands tucked inside his pockets. He was looking down at Kiba from behind those dark-tinted glasses of his. "Be patient. Surely, Naruto is thinking of a way through this."

Kiba could only turn to his side, his back facing Shino. "I know that, dammit." At the corner of his eye he could see a portion of Naruto's orange jacket peeking from the open balcony of the tower. Kiba grunted, wrinkling his nose. He had grown up with the blonde and known him back in the days when everyone practically treated him like dirt. He had never really hated Naruto, albeit the things he heard his elders talked about, and at a certain point – he hadn't realized the transition – he had started believing that Naruto could do everything once he put his mind into it. Kiba knew that Naruto was going to pull it through with this predicament.

The eternal question was _when_.

Shino suddenly looked over his shoulder. "My insects tell me Konan is home."

Kiba pushed himself to a sitting position just in time to see a flurry of paper cranes swoop through the balcony entrance, and Konan materialized in the middle of the room, looking as solemn as ever. She looked around, giving them each a lingering stare before nodding out to the direction of the balcony, where Naruto had finally decided to stand.

"There you are," Naruto said as he started towards them, brushing his bottom lightly. "You should have told me you were visiting Nagato's grave. I'd have loved to come along."

Konan eyed Naruto with those striking eyes of hers, and Kiba could see a smile tugging on her lips. "You knew where I was?"

Naruto shrugged. "I could sense you."

"You should have come then."

"I didn't want to go uninvited. I don't think it would be appropriate…"

Konan looked a bit surprised at his answer, but decided it wise not to say anything.

Naruto crossed his arms over his chest lightly. "So, what've you decided?"

Konan tilted her head lightly to the side. "You want me to help you in taking back your village?"

Kiba's ears suddenly perked at what Konan had just said. He looked at Naruto, then at Konan and then back again.

Naruto grinned his boyish grin as he scratched the back of his head. "Yeah. Kinda."

Konan's reaction did not change one bit, but she did look like she was thinking things through. After a moment of silence, she closed her eyes and tilted her chin lower. "As much as I would love to, I cannot."

Naruto's grin widened even. "Yeah, I sort of thought you'd say that."

Konan opened her eyes and gave Naruto a curious look. "Nagato and Yahiko sleep here. I cannot leave their side."

"That's what I thought," said Naruto idly.

Kiba could not believe his ears. Naruto had asked Konan to help them take back their village. So Naruto _did_ have a plan! If so, then why was he letting Konan's refusal go without putting up a fight?

"Wait. Wait a second here," Kiba interrupted as he stepped between Naruto and Konan. "You have some sort of plan about taking back the Leaf?" he asked, gesturing at Naruto.

Naruto shrugged lightly. "Well, duh. It's ours. It's our home. Of course we're taking it back."

Kiba felt a vein twitch on his temple, and he used a thumb to rub at it irritably. "And, what, you were pretending to be some sort of living statue all this time when you could have told us you were planning something?"

Shino was suddenly beside him. "Kiba, you are being too loud."

Kiba scowled at his teammate. "Like hell I am."

"Kiba," Shino repeated warningly.

Kiba ignored him completely and returned to Naruto. "When are we going?"

Naruto gave him a rueful stare. "We could go right now, if you want to. Of course, we'd be dead in three seconds once we cross the border. Is that all right with you?"

Kiba winced at Naruto's sarcasm. Naruto was seldom sarcastic. He was straight-forward to the point of being rude, and his way of thinking was almost always one-sided to the point of being crude, but Kiba had grown up with the boy enough to know that Naruto still had a certain advantage even given his carelessness and crudeness.

Because he was _determined_.

He looked determined right now.

"Sorry," Kiba mumbled, backing down a bit. "I just… I just want to go home is all."

"We all do," said a voice from behind them.

Kiba turned around in time to see Tsunade and Hinata emerging from the inner chamber of the tower floor. Since Tsunade had gotten back on her feet, she hadn't spent much time with them, much to Kiba's displeasure. It had been three and a half weeks since Tsunade's recovery, and it had been three and a half weeks since Kiba had started expecting movement from their part.

Konan bowed her head slightly towards Tsunade. "Your offer was something I had to turn down, Hokage-sama, as much as I would love to help you."

Tsunade flipped one of those blond ponytails over her shoulder and crossed her arms over her stomach as she joined them in the middle of the chamber. "No. It was wrong of us to have asked you to meddle in Leaf affairs. I should have known better than to ask that of you in the first place."

Konan regarded her curiously. "It's not because I don't want to lend a hand; your cause is something I believe to be worth helping. The Hidden Rain has always been subject to change ever since I was a child. What I ended up believing to be the best for my Village was the reason why Yahiko, Nagato and I became Akatsuki. We should fight for what we believe in. And I had entrusted a lot of Yahiko's dreams to a ninja of the Leaf."

Naruto looked slightly embarrassed and he hid his blush by rubbing his cheek with the back of his hand. Hinata, who had approached him and was now standing to his left, smiled up at him wordlessly, but Kiba could see pride shining through those pale eyes of hers.

Tsunade returned Konan's look understandingly, nodding. "We all have different things to protect. You have yours."

Kiba felt a lightness in his chest as the mood inside the room suddenly turned towards the direction he had been hoping for since they had rallied up with Naruto and Tsunade. At last!

Kiba smirked. "We can do it all by ourselves." He cracked his knuckles, firing himself up. Akamaru must have sensed him and rushed to his side as if to find out what was getting his master excited.

Tsunade laughed loudly at his eagerness. "We can't be hasty. Taking back something that's ours takes time and a whole lot of careful thinking. You have to remember: this is not _revenge_."

Kiba blinked, confused. Danzo had taken their home, insulted their Hokage and driven them away like vermin. What was it they were going to do? "I don't understand… If this isn't revenge, then what is it?"

Naruto let out a snort, causing Shino, Hinata, Konan, Kiba and Tsunade look at him. The jinchuuriki sniffed and rubbed his nose cheekily with a thumb. "It's a freaking coming-home party, what else?"

* * *

The chills of winter rolled away along with the latter days of March, and Sai could not help but wonder why no one would step in to take care of baby Valu. He had hoped – no, actually he had _assumed_ – that anyone would be happy to take responsibility on such a lovely child, but much to his disappointment, no one would take up their offer. And because Sai could only keep his word to Sakura that they will only leave Gifu once they found a caretaker for Riho's baby, spring found Sai, Sakura and Team Gai still in the desert colony.

It was not as if he was too much in a hurry to leave; he and Neji had talked about hunting down the people who had attacked Gifu in order to make sure that the people of the colony did not have to suffer once again. They had already planned that once Valu was found a home, Sai, along with Neji and Lee, would set off for the hunt while Tenten and Sakura prepared for their departure before they returned. Of course, Sai had confidence in tracking down their attackers. He was almost a hundred percent sure that they would find them in a day's time. The problem was, what were they going to do with them once they _did _find them?

Sai heaved the bucket of water over the newly installed well, then wiped at his brow with the back of his gloved hand. Like any other midday in Gifu, it was smoldering hot, and today was his turn in filling their water pots. That, and their bath water had to be changed tonight, and he wasn't looking forward to hauling bucket after bucket up to the roof of the healer's house.

"It's hot out. You should at least wear a hat," said a voice from behind him.

He turned around just in time to see Tenten straighten up to heave her own bucket out of the well. The weapons mistress gave him a toothy grin when their eyes met. She was wearing her usual billowy tunic and a colorful scarf was wrapped around her head.

"Sakura doesn't like me wearing hats," Sai said plainly, pouring the contents of his bucket into a waiting clay pot he had brought from their kitchens.

"Oh, well now that's a shame," Tenten said teasingly, propping her hands on her hips. "We wouldn't want Sakura _hating_ you or anything."

Sai could detect the hint of laughter in Tenten's voice, but he didn't necessarily know what it meant. It had been three days since he had allowed Sakura to keep her scrolls. And it had been three days since the kiss they had shared over the dunes of the desert a few kilometers from the desert colony. He couldn't quite put his finger into it, but something had changed between them. Whatever it was, however, it had been for the better. Sakura had stopped being hostile to him. Sai suspected it was because he had finally stopped threatening her about taking her scroll. She also smiled more often now, mostly when he was around, and she wasn't hesitant anymore when Sai offered to help him in anything.

Of course, one thing still bothered him; Sakura had never once in the past three days mentioned what she felt for him, or what she thought about the kiss he had initiated. In all honesty, Sai was confused. It would have been easier to assume that Sakura was still brushing away the fact that he was in love with her, had she had not actually reciprocated the kiss.

Aside from that, she had been dropping off hints here and there – very subtle hints – of the possibility of her actually liking him in return; sleeping together with the blinds up. Waking up in the morning to find her snuggled against his back, her breath warm against the nape of his neck, and her arms lightly draped over his waist. There would be instances in the day when he would stock up on firewood for their hearth for the night, and she would be in her little clinic, watching him from behind a scroll. When he would greet her, she would step out from behind her desk, approach him wordlessly, and run a hand through his hair, declaring that he needed a haircut.

Sai could have easily told himself that Sakura was confusing him, but he was not quite sure if what she was doing was what normal girls did after sharing a kiss with a boy.

Sai brought himself back to reality when Tenten poked him in the arm.

"You're thinking about something. I can practically _hear_ your brain work," Tenten said, lowering herself to a sitting position at the edge of the well. "You can ask me anything, because I know you're _dying_ to have me share my wisdom when it comes to women and how they work."

Sai paused a moment, eyeing Tenten uncomfortably. He looked around them, just in case anyone was within earshot. It was just Tenten and himself by the well; the women of the colony would not be collecting their daily water rations until the sun started to descend halfway towards the mountains to the west. Sai abandoned the bucket he was holding by his feet. "Do you think she likes me?"

Tenten raised a skeptical eyebrow at him. "Are you really asking me that? Seriously?"

"You said I can ask you anything."

Tenten rolled her eyes. "Do you seriously think Sakura would let you kiss her if she didn't?"

Sai stared at her for a good three seconds, then asked, "How did you know I kissed her?" He was sure he hadn't told anyone about that.

Tenten's smile slowly slid off her face, and she looked away, her cheeks red. "It was purely coincidence. Neji and I weren't spying on you. We just accidentally ended up err… _seeing _that very intimate moment between the two of you. But I mean, it's not like this is the first time you've kissed, right?"

Sai felt something bubble up from his gut, and if he knew any better, he'd have thought it was annoyance. "This is the first time I've initiated a kiss. This is different."

Tenten brushed away what he had just said. "Pssh! A kiss is a kiss. And she didn't exactly pull away, did she?"

"No."

"Then there you have it. She likes you."

Sai was not convinced. "But she's never said anything about it."

"Why you discontented ass," Tenten said, laughing. "Just because she isn't putting anything into words doesn't mean she doesn't care. Sakura hasn't actually been articulate when it comes to her feelings; they just show naturally. Don't you think so?"

"I wouldn't know," Sai said slowly, looking down at his feet. Sakura had feelings for Sasuke. And Sai knew she held a very special place for Naruto in her heart. Sai sighed. Sakura had too many special people.

Sai wondered where he stood among them.

He slapped the cap of the clay pot and heaved it over his shoulder. "I'm off." He turned to leave.

"Sai," Tenten called after him.

Sai stopped in his tracks, looked over his shoulder. Tenten was watching him with serious dark eyes. "What?"

"You do know that you've made a very, very bad decision about those scrolls, don't you?"

Sai blinked. He was not expecting Tenten to suddenly talk to him about this. He narrowed his eyes at her. "We wouldn't know. There wasn't anything I could do about what Sakura wants."

Tenten tilted her head slightly to the side. "I thought those who belonged in Root would do anything for the mission. You're compromising the mission here."

Sai did not think it was Tenten's place to tell him this. "I will make sure Sakura stays alive, not because it's my mission, but because I choose to do so. Whoever tries to harm her will answer to me. Nothing changes, with or without those scrolls."

Tenten still did not look too convinced. "Sai, you're aware what one of those scrolls represent, right?"

And how could he not know? Even the late Orochimaru had wanted that scroll. "It doesn't matter what it represents. Anyone who wants to take that scroll away from Sakura would bring Sakura harm. And anyone who wants to harm Sakura is an enemy. It's as simple as that."

Tenten's eyes widened for a second before she slapped her forehead with a hand. "Oh, I forgot. I'm reasoning with a love-struck idiot." She shook her head, pushing herself up to stand. "Anyway, the reason why I came here isn't because of that. I just wanted to tell you that Tomona asks if you can help out with the olive plantation tomorrow. He says he could use a good pair of hands with the irrigation from the old well to the outskirts of the village."

Sai bit the insides of his cheeks for a moment before shaking his head. These people… they ask him favors here and there when they couldn't even take care of an orphaned child. "I'm busy tomorrow."

"That's what you said to Fai about the timber supply when he asked you to help out yesterday," Tenten pointed out.

"It's not as if I'm lying. I _am _busy." Sai had asked Fai about Valu, if he and his wife would be kind enough to open their home for him. They had smiled at him and said that they were not capable enough to raise such a young child. Of course they were lying; they already have three children. He could have tried thinking of a good enough excuse that they might have to turn him down. The only thing he could think about was that Valu was a child of a woman who had thrown away the Teachings of the Wind in order to save her son.

Sai paused, scowled. Were they turning a blind eye on a baby because of what his mother did? Come to think of it, they had been treating Noa as if she were some invisible girl, even when she was doing something almost impossible to ignore.

Tenten sighed. "Fine. I'll ask Neji or Lee if they can help out."

Sai nodded absently. "Yes. You should do that." He shifted the clay pot from one shoulder to another and left Tenten by the well looking greatly disappointed. He treaded through the colony streets under the scorching noon sun towards the Healer's House, lost in thought.

Sai had been raised without knowing his parents, and truth be told, he had not once thought of this as some sort of misfortune, and never in his life had he thought himself to be any better than what he was now if ever he did have them. The ninja world was full of people like him, but unlike this strange world Gifu existed in, he was chosen and harnessed according to his abilities, and not what other people had done on his behalf. Valu was barely two months old, and they were already judging him for something he wasn't responsible of doing.

He deposited the clay pot full of water when he finally reached their kitchen, then wiped his forehead with his palm. It was going to get hotter and hotter once they enter April. He hoped against hope they would no longer be in Gifu when summer came. Of course, he still did not know where they'd be going after Gifu, though anywhere but here was fine.

He looked up when he heard something move behind him. He turned around to see Sakura coming down from the house, Valu in her arms. She looked surprised to see him in the kitchens, but smiled a small smile as she made her way to him.

"It's hot out. You should stay indoors," Sai said, wiping at his face in case he had some unnoticed dirt staining his cheeks.

"I thought it would be you," Sakura said, reaching out suddenly to flick his forehead with her thumb. "You're filthy."

"I know," he said, taking a step back. "I'll clean up later before bed. I promise."

"I didn't say anything," Sakura pointed out, watching him thoughtfully for a second, her hand gently stroking Valu's back, as if by habit. "He's just finished his bottle. He'll be asleep in no time."

Sai rubbed his hands together, trying to get rid of whatever grime he might have between his fingers. "That's good. You can rest a bit once he's taking his nap."

Sakura rested a cheek against Valu's head. The baby sighed against her shoulder. "He's been a good boy lately. I can't believe no one would want to take him in."

Sai frowned, but immediately replaced it with a placid expression before Sakura noticed. "We'll find him a home. Don't worry."

She shook her head lightly. "I'm not worried. A bit impatient, yeah. But not worried." She gestured back at the house with a jerk of her head. "Your lunch. It's waiting."

Sai could only nod and he followed Sakura back to the house. He trailed after her, his eyes set on Valu's tiny head resting on her shoulders, already asleep. It suited her, holding a baby. He began to wonder why she ever became a kunoichi; she was so much better at being a mother.

Sai proceeded towards their cots to change while Sakura went straight for Valu's crib, where she lowered him down before tucking him gently under a thin sheet. Sai watched her as she was leaning down, smiling happily at the sleeping baby. He hurriedly looked away when she straightened up and stretched her arms over her head. He pulled his dirty tunic off and deposited it on the laundry basket by the foot of his cot then bent down to open the lower drawer for a fresh shirt. He nearly jumped when he felt something cold and wet fall over his shoulders.

"Wipe yourself down before putting on a new shirt," said Sakura from behind him.

Sai looked up and was surprised to have her nose inches away from his. She immediately straightened, cheeks reddening.

"Thank you," Sai said, pulling the towel and using it to wipe at his face. It felt nice and cool against his cheeks.

"You're welcome," Sakura said.

"It's getting hotter and hotter everyday. The seasons are changing," he said with the hopes of small talk.

"It's still freezing in the early mornings, though," Sakura said.

"Yeah," he agreed, backing up to sit on his cot as he began rubbing briskly at his neck with his towel.

Sakura was watching him silently. For a few seconds she just stood there, rocking back and forth on her heels and toes. After a few more moments, she finally sat down beside him. "You're avoiding Tomona and the others," she suddenly blurted out.

Sai's rubbing stopped, but he did not look up to meet her gaze. "That's not necessarily true. I just simply refuse to cooperate with whatever they want me to do for their colony."

It took a while before Sakura could respond. "That's not very nice. They've opened up their colony for us. We have a home here."

Sai placed the towel on his knee and turned to her. She was looking up at him warily. "This is _not _your home. It will _never_ be your home."

Sakura's left eyebrow shot up, obviously unimpressed with what he had just said. "You're being very rude, you know. These people have been nice to us until now."

Sai scratched at his hair, finding the right words to say to her. Inhaling, he gestured at her with a hand. "People who follow The Way of the Wind worship the land that they toil. They treat their hands as sacred tools because it's what they use to harvest the bounties of the earth. They believe that their hands should never be bloodied, and that Nature always sees its course. But just because they don't arm themselves with weapons does not mean they aren't capable of being cruel."

Sakura suddenly frowned, but she did not say anything, obviously weighing in what he had said.

Sai pinched the bridge of his nose with a finger and his thumb, then said, "No one would take Valu in because Riho had held a weapon with the intent to kill to defend her child. Don't you see? Noa's been treated like the village outcast since we got here, and that's because her grandmother did the same thing. What do you think would happen if – _when _– they find out what we are?"

"They wouldn't find out. We'll be gone even before they do," Sakura muttered, lowering her gaze to her lap. Sai could practically feel her sadness radiating from her. He knew that Sakura had gotten quite attached to Gifu.

She's always had too many people dear to her heart.

Sai reached out and touched her shoulder gently. She jumped at the sudden contact. "Your home is in Konoha. And my home is anywhere where you are."

Of course, Sai did not say this because he was good at sweet-talking. He said it because he sincerely thought it was true. He did not understand why was Sakura looking at him angrily.

"You're trying to embarrass me again," she accused him, standing up from his cot.

Sai grabbed her wrist and forced her back down to sit. Unable to control his own strength – or perhaps he had expected for Sakura to resist him a bit – she ended up tripping on her own feet and sprawling on Sai's lap. She clambered off him, sputtering apologies, her face beet red. Sai didn't let her escape. He pushed her down onto the cot, trapping both her wrists on either side of her head, and rolled on top of her shamelessly. He didn't even care if she thought he smelled funny.

"You don't need weapons to be cruel. You're being cruel to me now," Sai said under his breath.

Sakura, face so red it was a miracle she still hadn't passed out, looked up at his face with those wide green eyes of his. "What do you want?"

Sai looked back at her grimly, squeezing her wrists to test if she would try to shake loose from his grasp. She was as relaxed as ever. "I want to know."

Sakura frowned. "Know what?"

"What I am to you. What we are. What you feel about me." He inched his face closer to hers, so close that their noses touched. "Tenten said that there was no reason to ask, because you were never articulate with your feelings. But I don't want _assumptions_ when it comes to you. I want _assurances_. I love you. Do you love me?"

And Sakura let out a very awkward squawk. She blinked several times, as if unable to believe what Sai had just asked her. Sai inhaled her scent, that very, very subtle aroma of chamomile and mint from the herbs she was probably mixing earlier that day. And Sai did not even realize he had started holding his breath after that inhale, and he could hear his heart pounding in anticipation for her answer. Right now, her answer was the only thing that mattered to him. The sounds outside, the heat of the room, the cooling lunch on the table, everything disappeared.

And then Valu started crying from his crib.

And as if the spell between them had been broken. He sighed, knowing that Sakura would prioritize the baby, because she always did. He let go of her wrists and was about to push himself off her when suddenly, Sakura's hands were around his neck, forcing his face back down. And one moment, he was being dragged down, and next he had Sakura's lips against his in a suffocating kiss that drove the heat, the wind and the sound of Valu crying away. It was not a long kiss, but to Sai it could have lasted an eternity.

When Sakura pulled away, she looked him in the eye, and much to Sai's bewilderment, she slapped him across the face hard, nearly knocking his jaw askew. For a split-second he started to wonder what he had done wrong to deserve that slap. Was the kiss terrible? Did he smell funny?

It was only when Sakura grabbed his face on either side, leaned her forehead against his and said, "I love you, too." And she pushed him off her with the force Sai was familiar with, and he ended up tumbling down onto the floor. He watched as Sakura, her mouth covered with the back of her hand, as she hurried towards Valu's crib, where she bent down to pick him up and rock him back and forth.

And Sai could only sit there, awestruck, as he held his aching cheek, smiling even though his face hurt. He didn't care, because now he was sure. And Sakura was sure.

And that was more than enough for today.

* * *

**_A/N: A late update, as always. You forgive me, right? XD _**

**_I don't know why it took me this long to write this chapter. I guess it's because we're about two to three chapters away from the climax? Oops! Did I just say that? Something to look forward to, maybe? Hopefully it wouldn't take me that long to update._ **


	18. The Mark

**Chapter Eighteen**

**The Mark**

* * *

Hanabi did not particularly understand why she was suddenly recruited to help around in the hospital, given she did not have the proper training to be anything near what a Medic nin could do. Well, she supposed she could be useful in moving around objects from one place to another – she was fairly strong, after all – but was starting to question the decision-maker for these sudden changes in the Leaf. Surely there were better capable people to assign in a place of healing.

Well, it wasn't as if they had any other choice; the effective shinobi were either on the run, or in jail. But that was not the reason why she was starting to doubt the Village's Hokage.

Hyuuga Hanabi's loyalty had always belonged with her clan, although her sister had always told her that the Village came first over family. She had tried to understand what her sister was trying to tell her, but she could not quite grasp how one could put Konoha over Hyuuga. Hanabi's world had been confined within Hyuuga teachings and Hyuuga secrets. She had never been taught what Hinata was taught, what Neji-nii was taught. Hyuuga had been her everything.

That was, until that day when she came home to a Village that was nothing more than a big, steaming hole in the ground, half her family scattered, and almost every single Konoha ninja wounded or dying.

"If you're not planning to help around, then can you at least get out of the way?" someone said from behind her.

Hanabi turned around to find a tall tower of boxes hovering over her, shinobi-sandaled feet poking from under it and a long green scarf trailing down on the floor beside it. She backed away hastily. Not him again. It always had to be him…

Konohamaru's face appeared from behind the tower of boxes. He was frowning at her. "Well?"

Hanabi side-stepped, scowling at the boy as he pushed past her with his heavy load. She was beginning to wonder how he was able to make her feel utterly useless by just being present in the room. "Where are you taking those? Can I help?"

Konohamaru paused for a second before dropping the boxes on the floor beside more boxes that seemed to contain important-looking papers. He turned to face her. "Take orders from Shizune-nee. She's the one who recruited you, right?"

Hanabi bit her lower lip dejectedly. "I did. She told me to wait a minute. I've been waiting for almost an hour."

"She's been running around for the past three days just to get things in the hospital going, you know. Why don't you wait by her office?"

Hanabi stared at the boy for a few seconds before she nodded, feeling slightly hurt. She was not used to being pushed to the side; as the Hyuuga heir, she was always at top priority in her clan. So this was what Hinata must have meant when she said the Village came first.

It was then did she realize that she had been living in a box created by Hyuuga hands. Somehow this realization did not bring a good feeling.

She turned on her heel, incredibly humbled by the things that were happening around her. She wished Hinata were home. She somehow felt that if her big sister were there, everything would be all right.

"Hey."

Hanabi turned around. Konohamaru was once again carrying his boxes, but he was smiling at her with that annoyingly huge smile of his. "What?"

"My friends and I are eating lunch together in the inner garden later. You wanna come along?"

Hanabi blinked in disbelief. The Honorable Grandson had just asked her, the Hyuuga Heir, if she wanted to have _'lunch with his friends'_… She sniffed airily. "I'll think about it." And she hurried away from him, feeling hot on her cheeks. She could hear him calling out to her, but she ignored him, turning the corner towards Shizune's office, somewhere down the lobby.

And she ran smack into something hard and solid and very, very painful.

She staggered back a few paces, rubbing her forehead gingerly.

"Watch where you're going, little girl."

Hanabi looked up and found a dark-skinned woman she had never seen before in her life looking down at her as if she were a bug under a microscope. Hanabi recognized the Kumo flak jacket almost immediately. Kumo had always been part of Hyuuga's dark history, and she had never really been this close to a ninja from that village before, but it did not take all the history lessons in the world for her to decide that she did not like this woman.

"A Hyuuga," the woman said, examining Hanabi's eyes with interest. "Of all the places we'd bump into one."

Hanabi found herself with both hands in front of her in a fighting stance. Some of the people who passed them stopped to stare for a moment before moving along, thinking it wiser not to get involved.

"What do you want, outsider?" Hanabi asked warily.

A man with light, spiky hair and a bored expression on his face appeared beside the woman and blinked down at her, looking uninterested. "This isn't just a Hyuuga, Karui. This must be the heir."

The woman – Karui, was it? - cocked a thin eyebrow up as she leaned back, crossing her arms over her chest. "Hooo… So we have the Hyuuga heir running around in a hospital, as what, errand girl?"

Hanabi bristled instantly. She did not think that she deserved to be talked to that way. She turned to leave. "Excuse me. I have errand girl duties to attend to." She tried to back away quickly but the Karui woman was too fast. She was in front of her in an instant, blocking her escape.

"What's the hurry, little errand girl?"

The man she had with her did not look too happy with her. "Karui. I don't think it's a good idea to provoke the locals."

"I'm not provoking the locals. I'm merely checking out fair game that happened to be in our way, Omoi."

"We're here to find Nara Shikamaru and a woman called Shizune regarding the Sixth Hokage's schedule to meet with us," the man, Omoi, said blandly. He looked over his shoulder warily. "It's been three days. I should have known something was up when Kakashi-san left us in the inn and disappeared as soon as we were settled in. Where is the man, anyway?"

"He's in jail," Hanabi blurted out without thinking.

Karui's eyes were on her in a second, frowning. "He was the one who met us when we arrived. He can't be in jail, you silly little girl."

Hanabi snapped her mouth shut, her teeth clicking together painfully. What were these people doing in Konoha? Her father had mentioned it in passing, the arrival of foreigners some time in mid-March. Could this be what he was talking about? Her father had not been happy about it, though. Now she knew why; they were completely rude.

"I'm not lying. If you don't believe me, then suit yourself. Excuse me," Hanabi said, once again attempting to take her leave.

Karui would not move. She still had her eyes on Hanabi's face. "I don't even see the reason why we have to do this whole diplomatic nonsense. We should take the offer and leave. It's right in front of us."

Hanabi froze. Offer? What did they mean by that?

Omoi shook his head. "If we did that, we'd break the temporary truce between our villages. What if they attack us on the spot once we take her? And what if they send rabid nin-dogs to chase us out of Leaf walls? Then we'd have to – "

"Shut up, Omoi," Karui snapped. "Fine, let's just get this over with and find Nara Shikamaru. When we asked the Jounin at the Administration Building, he said that he could be with a medic-nin named Yamanaka Ino."

"That would be me."

Hanabi turned around when she felt a hand land on her shoulder protectively. She looked up to find Yamanaka Ino staring straight at the foreigners, looking very displeased. Much to her surprise, Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji were suddenly between Hanabi and the Kumo nin. Some of the passersby pointed and gawked, whispering, "Look, it's InoShikaCho!" in excitement. It had been a while, Hanabi knew, since the three had been seen together since the destruction of Konoha.

"We don't want any trouble here, and I'm almost certain that you think so, too," Shikamaru said in his usual drawl.

Chouji cleared his throat, leaning back and smiling. "Oh, come on, Shikamaru. We have no enemies here. These are representatives from the Cloud invited by our Hokage in the name of peace. Surely, they wouldn't be up to no good. Because, I mean, they know better than that, right?"

Karui was suddenly taken aback, and Omoi nodded almost in gratitude at the Akimichi.

"Of course," Shikamaru agreed immediately. "You were looking for me? I'm sorry that Kakashi had to abandon you so suddenly. He's a busy man, so I'll take it from here."

Karui eyed Shikamaru, then Hanabi. "He's not really… he's not really in jail, is he?"

Shikamaru paused, gave Hanabi a look.

Hanabi clung to Ino's side, swallowing hard and she shook her head.

Shikamaru returned his gaze back at Karui. "Don't be silly. That man couldn't be detained even if the Hokage wanted him behind bars. He's just… tied up at the moment with Village affairs."

Omoi nodded, satisfied. "See, Karui? There you have it. We have nothing to worry about."

Karui did not look too convinced, but she nodded anyway.

Ino's grip on Hanabi's shoulder tightened. "And while we're at it, please stay away from this girl. If you know what's good for you."

Karui nearly hissed, and she took a step forward as if to make a move at Ino.

Chouji was in front of her in a heartbeat. The smile on his pudgy face never left, but those tilted eyes were intent on the Kumo kunoichi. "I was right when I said there are no enemies here, _wasn't I?"_

Omoi pulled Karui back in her place. "Yeah. No enemies here."

Chouji nodded in satisfaction.

Shikamaru cocked his head to the right. "Shizune's office is right over there. Let me escort you personally." He gave Chouji a pat on the shoulder before walking off to the direction of the office. "Take care of things for me, buddy."

"Don't I always?" Chouji asked humorously, returning the pat.

Hanabi watched as the two Kumo nin followed Shikamaru down the hallway.

Ino looked down at Hanabi, a serious expression on her face. "While those two are lingering in the village, I want you to always be with someone. Never wander alone. Do you hear me? Stay with your friends."

Hanabi blinked, her face reddening. With friends? But… she didn't have –

"Well, you heard Ino-nee," said a voice from behind her.

Hanabi turned to find Konohamaru, face and hands dirty from all the carrying he had been doing earlier. "You need to be around friends. People you could trust. You can trust me." He smiled his cocky smile, wiping his nose with the back of his hand, smearing the dirt on his nose even more.

Hanabi's face reddened even more when Ino hurriedly ushered her towards the boy.

"Take care of her, Konohamaru," Ino said. "If you need me, I'll be in the third floor. Don't leave the hospital until I say so."

Konohamaru gave her a thumbs-up sign. "Got it, Ino-nee. She'll be safe with me."

Hanabi jumped when Konohamaru suddenly took her hand and pulled her towards the opposite direction where the Kumo nin disappeared to. His palm was clammy, and there was grime between his fingers.

She wondered why she did not pull away and hesitate when he guided her through the hospital's busy hallway.

* * *

There weren't many things that could make Rock Lee feel horrible. He was always the ever happy, ever cheerful Chuunin who always looked at the brighter side of everything. He knew that his friends thought of him and his personality as a bit eccentric, but he had never – _not even once _– minded. His sensei had taught him to make the most of what he had, and he knew that Gai-sensei could never be wrong when it came to those kinds of things.

But then again, Gai-sensei had never really shared stories of whatever possible love-life he could have had.

Now, Rock Lee was almost certain that it was his fault that Sakura chose Sai over him; the guy was, after all, very good-looking, pretty much like Uchiha Sasuke. And hadn't Uchiha Sasuke been the _epitome_ of any Konoha girl's dream guy?

Gah… Just the thought of it, of _him_, made Lee shiver.

But at the same time, he could not help but feel horrible. Sai was not a bad guy, and he knew that whatever negative thing he could be thinking about him, it was out of jealousy. He had stolen Sakura's heart, and he did not even have enough courage to admit to himself that he had lost, fair and square, to Sai.

"You missed a spot."

Lee blinked, looked up. "Sorry, what?"

Neji had that grim look on his face, lowering the paint brush he had in one hand. They had been asked by Tomona to help with painting the newly built houses in the northern wall of the colony, a job first offered to Sai, which he had blandly declined for some reason. Come to think of it, Sai had been declining a lot of Tomona's requests as of late, which was strange, because when Team Gai had arrived in Gifu, the Root agent had been more than willing to shoulder majority of the hard jobs in the colony. Well, given that their plan of leaving Gifu was already finally decided, he supposed Sai thought it irrelevant to invest any further on human relations within the colony.

Which was why Lee was starting to wonder why he was stuck painting the walls of the houses with Neji when Sai had already abandoned whatever responsibility he might still have with the people living in them.

"Say it," Neji suddenly said, turning towards him.

It was Lee's turn to lower his paint brush. "What?"

"Whatever it is that's bothering you. You've been grumbling for the past hour about something that I have a vague idea about, and I think it would be a good idea if you get it out of your system."

Lee bit his lower lip. Neji had always been one of those who had little patience to anything that concerned Lee's nonsense. That was probably the only reason that made him want to tell the Hyuuga about what he was feeling, even though he had seldom complained about anything that concerned Haruno Sakura.

Well, not that his love life was Neji's business or anything…

He had been young when he first laid eyes on the pink-haired kunoichi. She had been immature then, and being a year his junior, he had always thought her to be quite adorable. It must be because he had always been exposed to Tenten, who had but an iota of femininity in her. Lee knew he had liked Sakura then. He had wondered to himself what it was exactly that made him like her to begin with. She was not exceptionally outstanding in her batch of females, like Yamanaka Ino, nor did she have a specific clan bloodline limit like Hyuuga Hinata, but there had been something – _something _– in her that had attracted him to her. Was it the hair? Well, maybe it had _something _to do with the hair… maybe… He wasn't exactly sure.

"It's nothing," Lee finally grumbled, raising his brush up against the wall of the house he was painting. He could feel Neji watching him as he clumsily splattered paint on his green suit.

"It seems like something to me." Neji paused, sighed, dropped his brush into the can of paint and turned to face him. "Forget about her. It's the only way for you to get your peace of mind back."

This suddenly stirred anger inside Lee. And Lee seldom got angry about anything. He gestured at Neji with his brush. "You can't tell me to turn my feelings on and off like a light switch."

Neji crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm not asking you to turn your feelings on and off _'like a light switch'_. I don't think anyone can do that. I'm just… " He shrugged, and for some reason looked cool while doing so. "I'm just asking you to acknowledge – and _accept _– the fact that she belongs to someone else, and that she's happy. They're _both _happy. And we need more of those as of late."

Lee closed his mouth slowly. He knew that Neji was right about that. Since Rio's death, Sakura had finally taken to smiling more often and talking to the villagers more. He had been grateful that at least Tenten had been around to help her with the baby, which he knew would have been difficult for Sakura to do alone. Of course, he would have personally loved to help her out, if Sai hadn't been hovering over her like some crow protecting its young.

"It is not as if I am against them being happy together. But I think I still have the right to sulk about it. I _do _like her a lot, you know."

Neji sniffed, bending down to pick up his brush again. "Well, so long as you know your place. We'll be leaving the colony pretty soon. We don't know where we're going yet, and the last thing we need is a rift between two people in the squad."

Lee paused, gave Neji a long look, then lowered himself down to a squat, his face a few inches away from the wall he was painting. He did not have anything against Sai. If anything, for someone who claimed he loved Sakura, he knew exactly what the Root agent was feeling. And so he knew that whatever was bothering him could only be one thing: He was extremely, _extremely_ jealous of him.

And that was the only problem in their equation right now.

But Neji was right. There were far graver matters they needed to face. Much more important than love triangles and broken hearts.

And he would have left it at that, had it not been for the freight train that had suddenly slammed against the back of his head. He felt his forehead smash against the wall in front of him. He could feel the still-wet paint sticking to his skin, eyebrows and thick bangs.

"Hello there," Sai suddenly said cheerfully as he removed his sandal-clad foot from the back of Lee's head. "I couldn't help but overhear you when you said you like Sakura."

Lee whirled around, more shocked than angry, really. He had not known Sai to get physical even when unprovoked. But then again, he had not known Sai for very long. But Lee was naturally a non-violent guy, and getting shoved into a wall of wet paint was not going to change that. "That hurt!"

Neji shook his head in disbelief, taking a step back as if making it a point that he did not want to get involved. "I can't believe this…"

Lee wiped at his forehead, smearing paint onto the sleeve of his suit. "What do you want?"

Sai was smiling that bland smile that had been decorating his face lately. "I want you to stop talking about Sakura like that."

Like _that_, he says. Lee had never talked about Sakura in whatever manner he might think lewd or disrespectful. He frowned when he just remembered that Sai was Sakura's… _'significant other'_ now. He turned away. "The least you can do is help us with these walls. You _are_ the artist among our ranks, after all."

"You don't need an artist to paint walls," Sai pointed out, leaning back and examining their handiwork. After a while of silence, he sighed. "But neither of you is good with a brush."

Neji's eyebrow twitched in obvious annoyance. His crossed arms over his chest tightened considerably. "What is it, Sai? Is there anything you need?"

Sai looked over at the Hyuuga, then at Lee. "It's time."

Lee brushed back his paint-clad hair away from his face and stared at Sai. The leering grin on the Root agent's face had disappeared, replaced by a serious placidity that Lee had seldom seen on his face ever since they had left the Leaf.

Neji was also alert. "Sai. We were clear when we discussed this. Have you found a family that would take the baby in?"

Sai gave Neji a meaningful look, then said, "No one in this colony would take in that boy, Neji. Waiting for one to step forward and volunteer would be the same as waiting for their entire culture to change."

Lee wiped at his eyes with his sleeve, then pushed himself up to a standing position. He did not understand what Sai was trying to say. He was almost sure that no one could resist such a baby. Strangely, Neji simply nodded and then had to look away. As usual, he knew something Lee didn't. "Why wouldn't anyone volunteer to take in such a cute baby boy? Surely, someone will be kind enough to offer their assistance?"

The look Sai and Neji gave each other made Lee's hope falter, and he couldn't help but frown, especially when Neji shook his head and said to him, "It's so much like you, Lee. But I suppose that's not a bad thing, having to see the goodness in people regardless of the obvious."

Lee did not know if that was meant to be a compliment, but the conversation was over before he could even put another word in. Sai turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" Neji asked and he looked like he was going to follow the Root agent.

Sai looked over his shoulder. "I was thinking of gathering some supplies for our little _'excursion'_."

Neji rubbed his hands together to get rid of whatever paint that had smeared on his fingers. "Shall I help?"

Sai paused, thinking. After a while, he said, "I'm fine. You should finish what you're doing before nightfall."

Neji nodded. "I'll talk to Tomona in case we don't finish tonight."

Sai returned his nod and held the Hyuuga's gaze for a fraction of a second too long.

Lee looked at Sai to Neji, aghast. They were leaving him out of the little conversation they were having with their eyes! "Wait, so are you saying we're leaving _tonight?"_

Sai gave him a bland look. "Unless you don't want to come?"

Lee looked down at the bucket of paint by his feet. They had volunteered to paint the houses, and when Lee volunteered for something, he always made it a point to finish it till the end. He frowned, looked back up to see Sai already halfway down the path that led back to the Healer's house. Neji was now busy with mixing the paint inside his bucket.

He found his feet moving, and with one final look back at the bucket of paint, he broke out into a run after Sai, Neji looking after him silently, but did not bother to stop him.

"Sai! Wait!" Lee called after the Root agent.

Sai had the decency to stop and wait for him right under the shade of a prickly cactus. "What is it?" he asked when Lee finally caught up.

Lee couldn't help but swallow and he skidded to a stop a few paces away from Sai himself. He consciously rubbed his sweaty palms at the side of his suit. At first, he had thought it was such a good idea to call out to him, to run after him. He had not expected Sai to actually stop and listen. And now that they were facing each other in the harsh light of the sun, he completely forgot what he wanted to say.

"Err… Well… "

Sai tilted his head to the side, his arms dangling loosely on either side of him.

Lee frowned, then finally said, "Don't ever make her cry, okay?"

The statement made Sai's eyebrows climb his forehead in obvious surprise. Perhaps he hadn't been expecting Lee to suddenly bring Sakura up out of the blue. He relaxed evidently when he saw Lee looking back at him with a too serious expression on his face. "I wouldn't even dream of it."

Lee felt his face flush slightly. "W-well you better take care of her!"

He nodded. "I know."

"And you would answer to me if you make her cry!"

For a few seconds, Sai stared at him. Then, he smiled, stuffing his hands into the sleeves of his robes. "Of course."

Lee opened his mouth, closed it. He didn't have anything more to say. "That's all, I guess." He wiped his hands again on his suit, unsure of what to do with them. He jerkily looked over his shoulder, searching for the perfect timing to make his exit.

"Lee," Sai suddenly said.

Lee turned to face him once more, jumping slightly in his place.

"I have a favor to ask of you."

This had Lee's frown returning to his face. Sai wasn't the type to ask for favors from love rivals or whoever. "A favor?"

Sai took a step towards him, then another, close enough for Lee to see the peeling skin on his nose and the tan line that had developed on his forehead because he had been tying a scarf around his head lately to hold back his hair which had grown over the months they had been in Gifu.

"If ever…" he started, "If ever I lose myself, take care of her for me. Okay?"

Lee did not understand him, because he was just slow when it came to these things in general. Sai was always so hard to understand ever since then, though at one point in time Lee had wished he could understand him better. He wished he could understand him now.

"Somehow, that brings me a very bad feeling, that request," Lee said. "You are not going to lose yourself. We do not have the luxury to lose ourselves when there is too much at stake."

Sai could only smile more, a smile that never quite reached his eyes. He was watching Lee intently, the shadows of the prickly cactus making the planes of his face appear softer against the light of the sun. "I know. But just in case, I wanted to ask you that. Can I count on you?"

Lee did not think he wanted to answer that, but he found himself nodding. At first it was a hesitant nod, but after thinking it over, he replaced the hesitation with something that came close to vigor. "You can count on me!" Then, as if realizing that he had just promised something to someone irresponsibly, he said, "Don't lose yourself!"

And surprisingly, Sai let out a hollow laugh. Laughing did not suit him. Especially when they were not talking about laughing matters.

"I'm serious!" Lee exclaimed, feeling worried all of a sudden. He did not like it when people talked this way. Things always go wrong when people start talking like this.

"So am I," Sai said back, and he ran a hand through his hair, pushing it away from his face only to have it limp back down his forehead, and for a moment, Lee thought the guy looked sad.

"She will not like it if anything happened to you," Lee pointed out grudgingly, not wanting to admit the fact that Sakura really would have a fit if something bad were to happen to Sai.

"I know that. I'm doing my best. Don't you think I'm doing my best?"

Now he was mocking him. Lee frowned. "I did not say that. I know you are doing your best. We all are. But… " What did he want to say anyway?

Sai had his hands back inside his robe's sleeves. "I didn't mean to worry you. I just wanted to make sure that if something were to happen to me, someone can take over."

"If something were to happen – ? Nothing is going to happen to you!" Lee said loudly, and he realized he was shouting and instantly felt embarrassed. He looked around to see if he had bothered anyone, sighed in relief when he found out they were still alone. He lowered his voice and hissed, "Why are you telling me this all of a sudden? I am your rival." Or maybe Sai had never seen him as a rival in the first place? That could be possible, though the thought did not sit well with Lee.

"Why you, you ask?" Sai paused for a moment as if he were thinking, then shrugged, pinning Lee a significant look. "Maybe it's because of all the people here, you're the only one smart enough not to trust me completely." And with that, he turned to walk away.

Lee's eyes widened, completely lost at the parting words Sai had given him. "Wait! That is not true. I do trust you."

Sai stopped on his tracks, slowly looked over his shoulder at him. He looked a bit surprised. "Really? But you hate me, right?"

Lee snapped his mouth shut. _Did _he hate him? He was jealous of him and what he and Sakura had. But hate? No, no he did not. "Just… do not lose yourself, Sai. Alright?"

The Root agent gave him one final smirk before wordlessly turning away again.

"I trust you!" Lee called after him, but he didn't really understand why he did. Sai ignored him and instead used a hand to throw him an uncaring wave.

* * *

There had been one time in Haruno Sakura's life when she thought that proving herself to her teammates – to Uchiha Sasuke? – was her top priority. At first she had tried to prove herself worthy of attention by growing out her hair because Sasuke supposedly liked girls with long hair. Come to think of it, that had been just a rumor and although she had been grouped with Sasuke back in her genin days, she had not heard, not even once, if Sasuke had any preference when it came to hair length.

When Sasuke chose to leave the village, she had been more than determined to prove that she could bring him back, having felt that she was partly to blame for letting him leave in the first place. She had trained – _hard_ – to become stronger, because she knew that growing out her hair and hiding behind his teammates got old pretty quick. She cut off her hair eventually, and perhaps that had been the start of everything. Well, maybe not _everything_. But it had definitely been a start of _something_.

Sakura blinked when she felt something pulling at a lock of her hair, snapping her out of the sudden daydream she was having about her not-so-distant past. She looked down and found that baby Valu had managed to reach out with his tiny hands to grab at her hair between his fingers. The baby was making goo-goo noises as he pulled happily, making Sakura laugh.

It was getting cold as the sun started its descent behind the mountain borders. She had finished with the daily chores and was finished feeding Valu his bottle, right now rocking him back and forth to get him to go to sleep before helping Tenten, who was moving about in the kitchens below, with dinner. She danced Valu around towards the window, peeking outside to see Tenten stacking timber under the clay furnace to start a fire for some stew.

Springtime in the desert was a first for Sakura, and while nothing in the colony showed any signs of the changing of the seasons unlike Konoha, she had noticed that daylight was much, much longer than it had been a month ago. Because of this, the people of the colony spent more time outdoors, tending to the olive plantation, or the camels, or laundry and the like. Sakura loved watching them get on with their daily business, and she looked forward to having some of them visit her for the occasional herbs and medicine, making small-talk and asking how their day was.

She couldn't believe how attached she had become with the people of the colony. It was a shame they were planning to leave very soon.

Sakura paused, bit her lower lip. Lately, she had been thinking too much about her time in the colony, about the things she had experienced here, about the friends she had made, and the friends she had lost. She lowered her eyes back to the baby in her arms and sighed as thoughts of Riho wandered into her mind once more. It had been too short-lived. She had been such a nice person.

Sakura looked up when she heard someone giggling outside. She returned her gaze back out the window and saw Tenten in the kitchens talking to none other than Sai. She could not help but blush at the mere sight of him in the usual robes he always wore when leaving the colony for a brief period of time, gathering information about the wandering bandits that had attacked the colony back in the solstice. In normal circumstances, she knew that Sai would have very much preferred to stay out of colony business, but maybe it was because he knew she was quite fond of Gifu and the people in them that he was willing to overlook so many things just to make sure she was happy.

She felt her face grow warmer still. If anyone had told her that she and Sai would end up liking each other, she would have laughed in their faces. And now, they were… they were…

_Lovers?_

That sounded just about right. But the mere thought made butterflies the size of foxes flutter in her stomach. Right now, those butterfly-foxes were happily doing figure-eights in her belly as she watched Sai smile down at Tenten when the weapons mistress handed him something that looked like a paperback book. They exchanged a few words before Tenten realized Sakura was watching them from the window. Tenten waved at her, said something to Sai then returned to her firewood.

Sai gave her an acknowledging nod then started flipping through the pages of the book as he slowly made his way into the Healer's house. Sakura could hear him shuffling downstairs, probably lighting the hearth and some of their oil lamps to get ready for the night. Taking a deep breath to get rid of the funny feeling she had in her gut, she looked down at Valu who still had a clump of her hair in his tiny hands. The more Sakura stared at the baby, the more she remembered his mother. They had the same hair, nose, and the shape of their eyes. And he was looking up at him with that curious look that could do wonders to her mood.

"You like my hair, Valu? It's pink. Your mother loved my hair color, did you know?" she said in a hushed whisper to the child as she reached down to disentangle his fingers from her hair. He had such tiny hands!

And it was only when she gently pried his grip away from her locks did she notice it.

There, right on the back of Valu's small hand, was a conspicuous mark that she swore wasn't there before. It looked like a black crescent moon with the points turning towards his fingers. Sakura frowned as she rubbed her thumb over it. It didn't feel like anything unusual. It was as smooth as any part of Valu's body, but…

_What is this?_

She looked up when she heard footsteps coming up the stairs, and she smiled when Sai's head appeared on the landing. "Welcome home."

Sai nodded at her, the book he had been reading still in one hand as he made his way towards the table. He put his book down and began to fiddle with the oil lamp. "How was your day?" he asked. Lately, he would always ask her how her day went.

Sakura walked over towards him, shifting Valu from one arm to another, the mark on his hand temporarily forgotten. "Uneventful. Tomona was looking for you, though. He looked a bit worried."

Sai dismissed her statement about Tomona, because Sai had been dismissing a lot of things about Tomona as of late. "I had a very exciting day today. I flew several hundred kilometers to the north, and guess what?"

Sakura frowned. Did she really have to guess? "What?"

Sai successfully lit the lamp with a match and he turned to her. "I found them."

She was not too surprised with this. Sai could find anything once he put his mind into it. And he always did put his mind into it. She smiled. "I see. You'll be setting off soon, then?"

"Tonight. I'm taking Lee and Neji with me. Tenten is staying with you, in case anything happens."

Sakura couldn't help but roll her eyes as she turned away from him, twirling Valu around, making the baby giggle happily. "Aren't we done with that already?" She had been certain she had succeeded in convincing Sai that she was in top shape ever since she had retired with the Creation Rebirth scroll. Her chakra was back to its normal level, and she was certain that if anything ever happened, she would be able to take care of herself.

Well, maybe she really _had _convinced him, because lately Sai hadn't been calling Noa to stand guard around her. Though Sakura had seen the girl around, hauling water buckets and stealing herbs from Sakura's garden, Noa had stopped coming over to bother her with petty things. Come to think of it, Noa had stopped coming when Sakura and Sai had finally agreed that their feelings were mutual.

A coincidence?

Probably not. Sakura had always had the suspicion that Noa liked Sai.

Sakura nearly jumped when Sai suddenly appeared beside her and gently took Valu from her embrace. "You want to hold him?" she asked.

"No, not really," Sai said as he cradled Valu in one arm and pressed his two forefingers in front of him in a one-handed sign of the tiger. One second, Valu was giggling, the next he was fast asleep.

Sakura gasped in horror. "Don't tell me you just cast a genjutsu on this baby!"

Sai grinned at her as he made his way towards Valu's crib. "It was his bedtime, anyway." He bent down and tucked Valu gently between his pillows. After he took his time in making sure Valu was comfortable, he straightened up and gave Sakura one of those sensual smiles he had mastered lately. The light of the lamp was not helping, because it was casting strange shadows on his face and everything else, emphasizing the fact that it was dark and they were alone and it was getting very cold outside.

With three strides, Sai was in front of her, an arm snaking its way around her waist as he pulled her against him, nearly making her squeal. Her gloved hands landed on his chest to keep her from losing her balance, and she felt all the blood race to her ears when she finally managed to process what was happening. Sai was hugging her.

Sai. Was. Hugging. Her!

And dammit, his hands were bare!

It had been so out of the blue, and lately, although Sai had always initiated the usual good night kisses or the occasional peck on the cheek before he left the colony, he had never been this aggressive, always giving Sakura the room she needed if she thought he was going too far. But now… right now, he did not even leave an opening for her. And she could hear her heart beating against her ears!

Sai was looking down at her curiously, and he smiled at her. "Sorry I don't smell nice right now."

Sakura didn't know how to react to what he just said, and ended up wincing. Then, out of curiosity or out of temporary brain damage, she leaned forward, pressed her nose against the crook of his neck and sniffed. He had lied to her about not smelling nice. If anything, he smelled faintly of something very familiar. She pulled back and looked up at him. "Why do you smell like olives?"

Sai was a bit surprised and there was a faint blush rising on his cheeks. He had probably been as surprised as Sakura when she inhaled his scent. "I was hiding in an olive tree for about an hour or so for recon. Do you hate it?"

Sakura hurriedly shook her head, and her fingers unconsciously smoothed out the wrinkles on his robes. "No, I like it. You smell alright." It was funny how she had gotten used to being this intimate with him. It was even funnier when she didn't pull away when it was his turn to nuzzle her neck, his dry, chapped lips running along the skin right below her right ear.

She closed her eyes, hands twitching on his chest. "What are you doing?"

"Kissing your neck," he said simply as his free hand reached up to her shirt, moving the collar to expose her shoulder. "You taste salty."

Her eyes snapped open and she tried to push him away, but he laughed and made sure she didn't get away, this time his lips leaving butterfly kisses on her jaw line. "I like salty. You were lying when you said today was uneventful. You must have had a busy day at the clinic."

Sakura allowed herself to relax and she let him back her up against the table. "Not really. I was busier with taking care of the baby."

Sai placed both his hands on either side of her on the table, trapping her in place as he kissed her cheek, then her hairline. "You spend more time with Valu than you do with me," he said, sounding adorable without meaning to. After all, Sakura knew that Sai was not capable of sulking yet.

Sakura reached up and tangled her fingers into his shaggy dark hair when he leaned his forehead against hers. "Valu doesn't go away stalking desert renegades on ink falcons, Sai."

"I know. But I find myself getting really possessive of you and your attention," he said before pecking her lips once, twice.

"I didn't know you were that possessive. You've always given me enough space." Not as if they've been dating for _that _long, or whatever. She kissed him back.

"I would give you anything, you know that."

And Sakura blinked. Then, with that suspicious nagging at the back of her brain, she reached behind her and snatched the book Sai had brought with him earlier. She looked down at the title.

_Pleasure Unbound._

She would have to kill Tenten later.

Sai was watching her intently as she lowered the book back down on the table. "I knew something was up."

"You mean aside from my – "

Sakura covered his mouth with her hand in annoyance. "Don't even say it." The last thing Sai needed was porn to feed his ever-thirsty curiosity when it came to dating.

Sai blinked at her, then, in a rare display of uniqueness, his fingers traced her arm up to the hand she had clamped against his mouth and started to pull at the string holding her fingerless gloves into place.

Sakura felt her face heating up all over again as he slowly – almost painfully so – tried to free her hand of her glove. That was one of the moments when she knew she had lived in Gifu for too long; having Sai touch her hands made her think that he was violating her in one way or another.

Sai kissed her palm, then her fingers, one at a time, lingering on her thumb and Sakura squeaked when his tongue ran a wet trail from the base of that finger to her nail. She let him pull the glove off her hand as his lips were back on her jaw. He dropped the glove uncaringly onto the floor as he twined his fingers with hers, making Sakura's head swim at the mere fact that they were practically fornicating by Gifu's law.

And so it had been wonderful timing when Noa suddenly decided to walk in at that precise moment, carrying a basket full of herbs and a jug of water. Sakura and Sai, both proclaimed ninja of the Leaf and proud Chuunin, could only freeze in their place, because Noa was standing at the staircase landing, and for the life of them, they couldn't figure out how she had gotten there without them hearing.

Noa cocked an eyebrow. "Ooooh. Gifu foreplay. Kinky," she said dryly as she deposited the jug and basket by her feet and, as if Sai still did not have Sakura trapped against the table with his bare hands on hers, went straight for the crib.

Once Sakura's brain finally recovered from the shock that Noa had sneaked up on the both of them while they were… well… while they were being intimate, she hurriedly pushed Sai away, straightened her shirt and picked up her glove, putting it on haphazardly.

Sai, on the other hand, did not look embarrassed but instead looked horribly disgruntled. In a rare show of emotion, he ran his hands through his hair and turned to Noa, who was now bent over the crib in interest. "What do you want?"

Noa straightened, and she faced Sai and Sakura, those green eyes of hers glowing eerily in the lamp light, her red hair the color of dried blood in the shadows.

"I wanted to tell you the secret behind Gifu. Unless you don't want to know because you want to make out instead?"

* * *

_**A/N: Yes, I'm alive. I've been preoccupied with a different fandom because of anime withdrawal, but I'm back now. This update is long overdue, but the plot's about to move on, finally, so bear with me. Prepare yourselves for the next chapters. It's probably going to make you hate me even more than you already do because I've been stingy with updates. You may throw rocks at me if you wish, but save that for the climax, alright?**_


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